


When The Day Met The Night

by ageekfrxmaus



Category: My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anxiety, Background Vic Fuentes/Kellin Quinn, Depression, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, High School, M/M, Previous Frank Iero/Jamia Nestor, Red hair!Gerard, Self Confidence Issues, Self Harm, outcasts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-17 18:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1398313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ageekfrxmaus/pseuds/ageekfrxmaus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank - an outcast punk - sees a red headed guy at a gig, little did he know that this guy was gonna come to his school.<br/>Frank tries to help Gerard as much as he can, but how deep do Gerard's problems lie?<br/>Frank struggles with his feelings and tries to push them aside.<br/>High school fluff.<br/>I'm terrible at summaries.<br/>Title for the Panic! At The Disco song of the same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Making wishes to their broken stereos

**Author's Note:**

> *I do not own any of these people and have put them into a completely fictional setting*  
> This is the first work I have posted here. I started writing this at 1am in the morning when I was having MCR feelings. I don't have a beta so I hope my writing is up to scratch. I will try to update every week, maybe quicker at the start as I have written quite a bit of this I just want to make sure I don't post everything and then you're left waiting for ages. Sorry about this long note. I'll let you read now :)  
> First part is about Frank introduction to Gerard properly is in the second chapter.

Frank would say he's a normal teenager. Well, not completely normal, but pretty normal for the group that he hangs around with at high school. He didn't particularly like anyone in the popular groups much, but they avoided him so he ignored them. The other groups weren't too bad; the music groups and the nerd/geek groups weren't too bad and sometimes he would talk to them. They didn't usually judge, except for some of the stuck up woodwind players, but he mostly stuck with the guitarists and such so that didn't bother him either. He was well known in his own world and people he didn't care about didn't really pay any attention to him. Altogether his high school experience so far wasn't too bad.  
He did like the occasional party, but he didn't like to get too smashed because he would still like all of his brain cells please unlike the popular fuckers who wouldn't even pass this year let alone graduate the next.  
His home though was a different story, his dad left when he was young meaning that he and his mum had to make do together. His mother had 9-5 job as a secretary and he worked at the local CD store a couple days a week after school to get them a bit more money. He didn't mind it though; his boss, Jack, was pretty relaxed and whenever it was slow at the store they would put on a good album and talk about anything that came to mind.  
He liked to play his guitar whenever work and homework allowed and was getting quite good by his standards considering he had to stop lessons 18 months ago due to his mum losing her job and only finding a lower paid one. He didn't mind that either though, it was easier to learn his own style if he taught himself.  
Altogether Frank had a pretty positive outlook on life now.  
A while back though, after too much constant routine and torturous boredom he decided to look into more music and he liked what he heard. He loved the screaming guitar riffs and the frantic drummer. In fact, he loved every part of it. After two days of downloads he was hooked. With his iPod full of metal, rock, punk and what some may call 'emo' he decided he need a change. He shaved the sides of his hair, with a pretty interesting side fringe and bought a couple band shirts. He swapped out his pairs of old washed out blue jeans for some black cargo pants and some black jeans. He bought some more band shirts and soon they were the only shirts he was wearing. It did take some courage for him to buy some 'guy-liner', as they call it, though. He waited till he went out of town with his mother one day and snuck into a store to buy some and snuck back out without his mother ever noticing.  
His mum thought it was just a teenage phase, but he knew he couldn't give this music up, not when it made his life a little less boring.  
He then found a group that he fitted into properly at school with; the out-cast group. It consisted of; Ray Toro (a dude with a brilliant fro), Brendon Urie (he was a little quirky and everyone suspected that he was gay), Ryan Ross (who was also quirky and the guy everyone suspected Brendon was gay with), Bob Bryar (a rad dude who could drum) and a couple other people that he wasn't that close with. But everyone was really nice and didn't judge him, especially when he wanted to get his fist tattoo. In fact they all encouraged him and came along to see it get done. It was simple but Frank loved the ink in his skin. The next thing after that was the lip ring and then came the nose ring, both shocked his mother a little but in the end she said it was his choice as long as he didn't get stretchers. He had chucked the 'guy-liner' idea out by then because it really wasn't him; Brendon and Ryan could take all the fame in that one.  
He and his friends went out to gigs occasionally when they had the money and he loved every minute of it. The unity that he felt listening to these bands with total strangers who in that moment were all his friends was brilliant. He became addicted to the feeling during his first concert and went to one whenever he could even if his friends couldn't make it. He also met the most interesting people at gigs, some he kept in touch with over SMS and the internet and they would meet up whenever they went to the same gig.  
Don't get him wrong; Frank was interested in girls and dating and such but he didn't really have the time. He had had girlfriends in the past and knew how much effort it took to keep them happy - well, that was before his sudden change. He did meet this one girl at a gig - Jamia - and she was awesome and smoking hot. They went out for a couple months and Frank insists to himself that he wasn't falling in love, but he knew deep down that he actually was. Then, out of the blue, she broke up with him claiming to have found someone else. Frank had met this someone else at gigs later and he was taller - though it wasn't hard to be taller than Frank - and had more tattoos, but that was about it. Since then though, he has had a couple random hook-ups and even a one night stand. He didn't particularly like that whole business though.  
If you ever asked him Frank would always say that he wasn't even a little bi-curious, and he wouldn't even admit it to himself most of the time. But some of the time he would catch himself looking at other guys or thinking about other guys. One time he caught himself thinking about another guy while wanking. He almost had an identity crisis then, but he put it down to hormones. In fact, whenever he caught himself thinking about another guy like that he always put it down to hormones and thought nothing more of it. He knew he would have to deal with his own thoughts sometimes though because they were becoming increasingly more frequent as well as more dangerous.  
\---  
"Oi, Frank, what're you day dreaming about?" Ray asks as he sits down next to Frank and hands him a beer bought with an overused fake ID.  
"Nothing really," Frank laughs and nods his thanks as he takes the beer.  
"Alright. Well, Brendon wasn't well enough to come so of course Ryan is staying back with him, Bob should be here soon with the others. Supposedly this band tonight is really rad."  
"Cool, man. I can't wait to hear them play!" Frank says enthusiastically.  
"Yeah, they'll be on in about ten," Ray says and then they fall into a comfortable silence while people chat around them as the occasionally sip on their beers. Ray was Frank's closest friend in the group really, they were the most alike as Ray played guitar too - a little better than Frank but he wasn't one to show off - and they both did okay at school and such.  
They chatted about some random things, mostly about school getting ready to go back, until the others got there about two minutes before the band was due to play. The group headed out to the cleared floor in front of the stage near the front and stood talking while waiting for the band.  
Once everyone had just about migrated to the middle of the room the band appeared on stage, and without further encouragement - unusual for that type of band - started to play their own songs which, by Frank's standards, rocked.  
It wasn't long before Frank was lost in the pulsing of the crowd and had separated a bit from his group but was still standing near Ray. He just listened and moved a little to the first couple songs and when the band went into a slower song he walked towards the bar, picked up a drink - this time only coke - and scanned the crowd to see what sort of people were here.  
It wasn't long before a mop of bright red hair caught his attention; it stood out even in a crowd of this sort, just asking for attention. But when he looked at the owner of the bright red hair he was a little confused as the guy couldn't have been much older than Frank and looked very shy, standing in a corner by him and looking at a group on the dance floor with whom he must have come to the gig with. One of them tried to beckon him, but he shook his head and stared at the ground. Frank could see that he liked the music - the guy’s foot was tapping and occasionally his hand was too - but he couldn't understand why he wouldn't join his friends. Although, who was Frank to judge, he hadn't stayed with his friends either. He was intrigued by the contradiction that this guy seemed to be though; the hair pointed towards a cocky and outrageous person ready to shred up the dance floor but the guy seemed self-conscious and fragile? No he just looked like he wanted to blend into the walls. Frank must have stared at the guy for a good couple minutes because he realized the song had changed, but he still couldn't look away until the guy’s eyes caught sight of his own. The two looked at each other for what felt like minutes to Frank but was really only a couple seconds when Frank pulled his own eyes away because someone had bumped into him and made him spill a bit of his drink. He assured the guy that it was okay and when he looked back up to see if the guy with the bright red hair was still there the guy had moved to his friends on the dance floor but as Frank kept on watching one of the girls in the group hugged the guy lightly and he sauntered towards the exit near the bar.  
Frank had no idea why he had spent minutes watching the guy but decided to think nothing of it - it was only because the guy had freaking awesome hair - as he saw Ray motioning for him to join the group again. He got caught back up in the music but this time he was slightly distracted as his mind kept moving back to the guy with the bright red hair.  
It wasn't till the gig had finished and he had got back home that he realized he hadn't even got a proper look at the guys face, he didn't even see what colour the guy’s eyes were because of how dim the lights were. Frank decided to try to stop obsessing about the guy and thought that if he saw him at another gig he would maybe say hi or something. Even though he knew that he would probably take the 'or something' option and that 'or something' would probably turn out to be staring at the guy from across the room again but he couldn't build up enough courage to talk to him.


	2. I am the voice inside your head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerard's backstory and time at the gig.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for self harm higher in this chapter, there won't be too many mentions of self harm in the next few chapters but it is an important part later on.  
> Thanks for continuing to read.

Gerard was, well, pretty fucked up as he so eloquently puts it. His skin bore scars from his mind constantly cycling through all of the bad things that had happened in his life. He and his brother Mikey had been put into yet another foster home, but this looked to be an okay one, the older couple were nice enough and gave Gerard a bit of freedom as they didn't really know what to do with a 17 year old. As soon as they had got into the area Gerard had got a job at a little book store, it wasn't very good money but it got him enough to go out to gigs every second weekend and he was happy with that. Recently though, the bullying at school had got worse, he had always stood out as a weird kid at school and was picked on but no one had taken too much notice of him, that was until he had died his hair bright red. Now he was constantly punched and shoved and called names and he was sick of it. But he didn't totally regret his decision to change his hair until they started picking on Mikey as well. Mikey was well liked among his group but as soon as the bullies had got wind that he was the weird kid's brother all hell broke loose and Mikey's friends didn't stick around long enough to see how he was.  
This was why their foster parents had decided to move them to another school not too far away. Gerard was so grateful that he hugged Anne - his foster mother - and thanked her so much for getting Mikey out of the bullying. She laughed lightly and said it was fine - she didn't want them unhappy at school.  
So Gerard promised to find himself at least one friend but mostly keep to himself and make sure that he didn't rub off onto Mikey too much and get him disliked at school again.  
Gerard, surprisingly, had average grades and an okay attitude towards school work despite his debilitating depression of which people only knew about if they saw his scars which was very rare. He was trying to stop, he really was, but at 3 am when all the demons in his head kept yelling at him he felt so helpless and couldn't see the point in trying to stop. After all, he was cutting just to stay here. Even if he was suicidal, he couldn't do that to Mikey and that was the one thought that saved - or tortured him - every time. He had a couple scars that would be there for most of his life, the ones where he had dug a little too deep, where he had thought he might slip away any second, but ended up in hospital. When he saw how distraught Mikey was though, he knew he couldn't do that again, sure he had thought about it but he would never try to go through with it.  
To add to all of what Gerard had to deal with, he also wasn't into girls. Guys were the only ones who he had looked at that way for ages. He didn't mind the fact and he had come to terms with it ages ago but the only person he had told is Mikey. He didn't really want to give the bullies another reason to pick on him.  
\---  
Gerard had been surprised - to say the least - when a couple people came up to him at a gig and started talking to him. He was a bit nervous, but these people seemed okay. He had talked with them a little, and they seemed nice enough but he still refused to go on the dance floor with them even after the girls had flirted persistently and were disappointed when it didn't get them anywhere. He smiled to himself as they wandered off because that guy that was hanging at the back of the pack was pretty hot.  
He loved the music at gigs, but the whole dancing and interacting with people he found a bit awkward, he knew he would probably think differently if he had a group of friends to hang out with but his life was the way it was and maybe that fact would change when he started going to his new school, who knew?  
He tapped along with the music as a few songs passed and occasionally the group that had talked to him would motion for him to come to the dance floor and he would shake his head and look down again.  
Gerard decided that it was probably better to go back to Mikey and chill out with him a little bit as he and his brother hadn't had a good gaming session in a while, but first he would thank the group for being nice. Once he had eventually built up the courage to go over to them he looked up and his eyes fell straight on another guy, probably around Gerard's own age. The guy was staring at him, sort of intensely. It was moments like these that Gerard did sometimes regret getting his hair dyed red but as the guy's stare slowly turned into and smile that he probably wasn't even conscious of, another random guy bumped into him and he broke the eye contact. Gerard didn't know it he was disappointed or not. The guy was pretty good looking, his black hair natural, his lip and nose ring shining in the club lights and his tattoos showing under the sleeve of his Misfits shirt.  
Gerard smiled to himself again as he walks over to the group again. If that guy was at another gig that he went to, he was definitely saying hi and maybe more.  
He shook the thoughts out of his before he thanks the group and one of the girls hugs him, he was grateful that he probably wouldn't see these people again because no doubt there would have been more flirting from the girls to come. He then walks towards the exit, leaving the sounds of loud music and chatter into the crisp night as he starts walking towards home since it was only a couple blocks away - quite convenient actually.  
He played games with Mikey the rest of the night until their foster parents decided they should go to bed. During that time though, Gerard found his mind slipping more often than he would like to admit to the guy that was staring at him from across the club, thinking of what sort of person he might be like. He did blame some of his losing to Mikey on the thoughts but would never admit it out loud.


	3. Surprises in Drama (class)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank expected to see the guy at another gig, but not in his own drama class!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was only going to put this up like a week from now, but I just wanted it out there, I have a couple more chapters in backlog so hopefully I won't be leaving a long wait in between chapters. Again, any mistakes are my own and were probably written at 1am in the morning. :)

Frank was all packed and ready to go back to school again. He had his head phones in and listened to The Offspring as he waited for the time to pass before he had to leave to walk to school.  
When the time was right, he picked up his bag and started to walk out the door but his mother stopped him, pressed a kiss to his cheek and then said; "Have a good first day back, Frankie."  
Then he was off, walking to the beat of the song and feeling quite invincible, his friends were going to meet him around the corner and they would walk to rest of the way to school together, luckily none of them lived too far apart, except Ryan, but he was over at Brendon's so much it was like he lived there. Considering he had a couple older and younger siblings his parents really didn't mind him staying there a lot and Brendon's parents had so much trouble with Brendon's older sister that Brendon was practically a Saint in their eyes.  
Sometimes Frank wished he could have a best friend like that but he was reminded of what a great best friend Ray was as he rounded the corner and saw him holding a CD out when he neared Ray.  
"Here, I realize I had got given another copy of this Misfits album and I knew you didn't have this one, so here you go," Ray said, passing the CD to Frank who promptly thanked him a lot and put the CD in his bag before they walked to the others who were a minute or two away.  
Yeah, Frank would never complain about his best friend again. At least not until he had repaid the favour and didn't feel obligated to only think good of his friend.  
"Hey, fuckers," Frank chimed as they approached Ryan, Brendon and Bob who were standing on the corner of the street that Bob lived down.  
"None of us have gotten laid for at least a week, I don't think we exactly qualify as 'fuckers'," Bob retorted.  
"Well, besides Bren and Ryan," Ray added as they all started walking towards school. Ray, Bob and Frank all laughed while Ryan and Brendon gave them death stares and then cracked up laughing too. They were so used to their friends making jokes about them being in a relationship that by now they could just laugh it off.  
"And they didn't even deny it," Frank said jokingly.  
The rest of the fifteen minute walk to school consisted of inside jokes and talks about upcoming albums and gigs.  
When they got to school, they put their stuff in their lockers and chilled for a bit before they had to go to first period. Frank's first class for the day was Chemistry and that went by pretty ordinarily as well as the lessons after that. It wasn't until the period after lunch that something interesting happened.  
Frank was chatting with Ray in their drama class while the teacher passed back assignments that they had handed up the previous term.  
Frank heard squeaking and assumed it was the door to their classroom, as an automatic reflex he turned to see who had entered the room. That was when he saw the bright red hair, standing in all directions and looking unkempt but still somehow suiting the wearer, the guy had piercing green grey eyes that shifted from the floor to the teacher as she approached the guy.  
That's the guy from the gig! Frank thought to himself, What're the chances of that!  
He couldn't hear what the teacher was saying to the guy but he really hoped that the drama teacher was one for showing the new kid to the class. He really wanted to know this guy's name and he had no idea why it was so important.  
"Why are you staring at the new kid?" Ray asked as he looked at Frank's surprised expression.  
"Oh, it's just I saw him at the last gig we went to. Bit hard to miss that bright red hair," Frank explained as he watched the guy grudgingly follow the teacher to the front of the class.  
"Yeah, probably. But I didn't see him there."  
"Oh, I saw him from across the room when I went to get a drink by myself," Frank said and if Ray found this a little weird he hadn't let on.  
"Right."  
After a minute the teacher quieted the class down.  
"Now, everyone, we have a new addition to this class. He is going to tell you his name and one thing about himself and then you all going to do the same, going around the whole class," Miss Dawson said.  
Trust the drama teacher.  
Dawson motioned for the guy to speak and he cleared his throat.  
"I'm Gerard Way and, I don't know, I guess I listen to a lot of music," the guy said, unsure of all the unwanted attention and his hand went to rub at the back of his neck, messing up his hair a little more.  
The class gradually went around saying their names and something about themselves. Frank was glad he was last; he might have more of a chance for the guy - Gerard - to remember him.  
Frank got lost in his name for a second - Gerard Way - it was a freaking awesome name if you asked him.  
It wasn't till Ray said; "Ray Toro's the name, guitar's the game." that he realized he was next.  
"Frank Iero and my life is pretty much about music," Frank said on instinct. He definitely had Gerard's attention. Maybe the guy remembered him from their shared eye contact? Or maybe he just thought Frank's fact about himself was pretty cool. Either way, he kept his eyes on Frank a little longer than necessary before he was ushered to his seat and the teacher started to get on with the lesson.  
Frank tried to catch Gerard's eye during class, but he was seated slightly in front of Frank and was continuously jotting down notes as the teacher spewed useless drama facts at them. Frank decided he would talk to him after class then.  
That plan fell through too, as Gerard had already packed up before the end of class and practically flew out of the door as the bell sounded. Frank did understand, being a new kid was probably difficult; being a new kid with bright red hair was probably even more difficult. Oh well, they will have other drama lessons together, Frank decided as he packed up his bag and walked out of the room with Ray towards the chemistry labs.  
"That new kid looked a bit ... different? Who takes notes in drama?" Ray asked, but Frank knew that he wasn't being mean, just generally curious.  
"Maybe he just wants to do well, I'm gonna see if I can talk with him, invite him to sit with us at lunch tomorrow. It can't hurt can it?"  
"Nah, we're already the 'outcasts' as they call us. Sure, ask him. Just don't feel too hurt if he says no," Ray smiled as he went into the biology lab.  
Frank walked on to the chemistry lab and sat down next to Brendon.  
"Hey, Bren!"  
"Frankie," Brendon responded as Frank flips him off for the nick name, "you seen the new kid?"  
"Yeah, he was in my drama class. I saw him the other night at the gig that you and Ry didn't go to, so he must have a good taste in music if nothing else."  
"And rad hair," Brendon added as they got their books out for the class.  
"That too, I'm gonna ask if he wants to hang out with us guys for lunch tomorrow since he probably won't fit in anywhere else."  
"That'd be cool. Make sure he knows what he is getting into though; the whole 'emo outcast' label doesn't exactly suit everyone, ya know," Brendon said and then they turned their attention towards the teacher.  
The lesson went on as usual and they learnt some new stuff but mostly Frank was preoccupied about whether Gerard would say yes to sitting with them at lunch or not and he had no idea why he was obsessed - no, not obsessed - interested in whether Gerard wanted to sit with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to be making the chapters longer from now on. I hope. Bare with me :)


	4. School? No. New school? Definitely not.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerard's POV of his first day of his new school, sorry that the introductions are dragging on, it is important build up I swear! Getting to see some more of Mikey and some other band members thrown in there :) Enjoy

Gerard was secretly terrified. He barely even admitted it to himself, he could feel his hands shaking and his breathing quicken but he still didn't admit that it was because of his new school. This was the one he didn't want to mess up for Mikey, it was Gerard's second to last year and he was so grateful that half the year had already passed when they moved to their new school.  
This time though he wasn't even going to bother talking to anyone and was going to try not to draw attention to himself, if that was possible with the stupid damn hair colour. He would just do the work set and not talk to anyone unless they initiated the conversation, he was sick of being mocked.  
He also made himself a promise that people would never find out that Mikey was his brother, that's what had them change schools in the first place. He was going to never talk to Mikey at school and never refer to him as his brother because he couldn't put Mikey through that pain again. The pain of being associated with an outcast.  
Mikey continuously said to Gerard that it wasn't his fault and that Mikey didn't care but Gerard wouldn't believe it no matter how many times he said it, only a visit to his grandma - Elena - had him feeling even remotely okay with going to this new school.  
Gerard had woken up at 6 am in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep so he decided to start getting ready for school. He tip toed through the house making sure not to wake Mikey or his foster parents as he went to the bathroom with his clothes and toiletries bag - he hadn't got in the habit of putting his things in the bathroom drawers that were provided for him, he felt like that was a finality of living here until he graduated and he really wasn't ready for that sort of commitment yet.  
He had a shower and then spent a good 20 minutes on his hair, a further 10 on his eyeliner and then made sure that his clothes covered all his scars, which wasn't hard because it was cold out and he could wear black skinny jeans and black long sleeved band shirts without any people at all really raising an eyebrow. He stared at himself in the mirror for another minute until he found it unbearable and had to leave the bathroom before he had a panic attack.  
He wandered back to his room and by that time it was about seven and he could hear Mikey stirring in the room next to him. He chucked his clothes and things into a pile on the floor and then went to knock on Mikey's door.  
"C'mon sleepy head, new school, new you," Gerard said as he opened the door to find Mikey curled under all of his blankets as if he had no intention of leaving the bed for years.  
"I'm tired, Gee!" Mikey complained as Gerard sat down next to him on the double bed.  
"Well, be tired and get ready for school at the same time, Mikeey," Gerard matched Mikey's whiney tone.  
"Ugh," Mikey exclaimed but it was muffled as he curled deeper into his blanket prison.  
Gerard lifted up a corner of the quilt to expose half of Mikey's face; "Hey, I don't wanna be the nagging older brother but up and at 'em. This school will be better, Mikey, I promise. Now how about you get your ass into the shower while go and make some coffee for us? Huh? How does that sound?"  
Mikey opened one eye to look at Gerard suspiciously, then - deciding that Gerard wasn't lying about the coffee - nodded, "I think I can make that compromise."  
"Good," Gerard laughed and then got up off the bed, started to walk away but then stopped at the end of the bed, grabbed the corner of the quilt and tugged as he left the room and Mikey squealed as the cool air hit his skin.  
"Bastard!" Mikey half-yelled as Gerard sauntered out of his room snickering.  
Gerard was still laughing to himself as he walked into the kitchen and saw his foster mother making something on the stove that smelled suspiciously like pancakes.  
"Good morning, Gerard," Anne said as she turned around and smiled at him, "you feeling good about your new school?"  
"'Morning and yeah, pretty good," he straight out lied, he thought he sounded convincing enough but added a smile for good measure.  
"That's good, was that you getting Mikey up that I heard?"  
"Yes," he chuckled slightly.  
"It's nice to see bothers like you two that are so close."  
Gerard genuinely smiled at that comment, he was very close to his brother, they were about all each other had for a couple years and they were inseparable. Even when they were forced to live apart for a week, Gerard ran away from where he was staying and stole some documents just so that he could go and find Mikey.  
"Would you like some pancakes?"  
Now, Gerard, being an angsty teenager dealing with depression, loved pancakes, he would eat them for every meal if he could and Anne's pancakes were the best. Anne and Gerard engaged in minimal small talk as he scoffed down his pancakes, finishing up just as Mikey walked into the kitchen.  
"Hope you left some for me, Gee," Mikey joked as he walked around the table to the stove where Anne was serving up a plate for him, he thanked her and then sat across from Gerard.  
"You ready to leave soon, Mikes?"  
"Yup, just eating and then I'm ready."  
"'Kay, I'll be back in a minute then," Gerard excused himself and then walked to his room where he picked up his sketch book and pencils and placed them carefully in his school bag, hoping to hell that they weren't going to get damaged in the process.  
The two things he cared about most were art and music, so of course his art supplies and CD's were his most precious items.  
He walked back into the kitchen as his foster father took all the dirty plates to the sink.  
"Good morning, Gerard, how are you on this fine morning?" Scott asked.  
"I am very well, thank you, yourself?"  
"Excellent, thank you for asking."  
That was the extent of his conversation with Scott for the day. Scott seemed to be a man of little words but big heart, whereas Anne had enough words for the two of them and just as big a heart. Gerard really did like them; he just wished they had met them sooner, before everything turned to complete shit. He sometimes wonders though what it would have been like to grow up with these sorts of adults as parents. Mikey wondered this as well and late at night when Mikey would sneak into Gerard's bedroom to talk things over they had discussed this and in their minds they made a perfect life for themselves. They told themselves that they would have had a dog and decided that they would have named it Oliver - Mikey's choice of course - and Gerard would have had a studio which their parents would have converted from an old shed and the studio could be used for a band as well.  
The imagining didn't help Gerard any, in fact it made him feel worse, but he knew it helped Mikey so he went with it to keep his brother's dreams alive.  
“Alright, I think it’s about time for you two to start heading off. Do you still insist on walking?” Anne asked as Mikey and Gerard picked up their bags.  
“Yeah,” Gerard said, he knew that if they arrived in the same car people would see so they had to walk to school so that Gerard could enter school a couple minutes after Mikey and the students would be none the wiser about them being related.  
Anne and Scott gave them each awkward hugs as the boys left for their new school. On the walk they joked around and teased each other until they were almost there and Gerard told Mikey to wait where he was for five minutes while Gerard walked into school.  
Mikey knew there was no point in arguing with his brother so he stood on the spot and waited for exactly five minutes before walking up to the school, not noticed by many people.  
Gerard had done this on purpose because he knew that everyone would notice the new kid with bright red hair and then not notice Mikey as much so that he may get the chance to make some friends before people picked on him for being new.  
Jeers of 'fag' and 'fucking new weirdo' rang through his ears as he walked through the school to the front office. He got his timetable and a map from the nice older lady behind the desk in the 'student services' section.  
"Hi, I'm Dallon. I was asked to show you to your locker," a lanky boy with pretty cool hair - not as cool as Gerard's - said and held his hand out for a hand shake.  
"Gerard, and thanks," Gerard said forcing a smile as he took the other boy's hand.  
"No problem, your lockers almost right next to mine anyway," Dallon said and he beckoned for Gerard to follow him.  
Gerard obliged and noticed a badge on Dallon's backpack.  
"You like Doctor Who?" Gerard half-stated and half-asked.  
"Yes! It's only one of the best shows ever made. You know it? A lot of people around here have never heard of it," Dallon said excitedly. Maybe Gerard could make some friends here.  
"Of course I've heard of Doctor Who. It's great! What's your favourite era?"  
"Umm, I like Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker era the best along with Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant era. yourself?"  
"Same here, actually," Gerard was mainly relieved to have found something in common with this Dallon guy.  
"Cool! Okay, so here is your locker," Dallon pointed to a nondescript locker that Gerard would only ever recognise again by the number on it '221'.  
"Thanks," Gerard said as he put his bag into his locker.  
"If you ever forget how to get to your locker just remember to go to the front of the 'B' section and it should be easy enough to find. Hey, I'm guessing you don't have many friends at this school, so how about I give you my number and you can text me if you need help finding any of your classes or such, okay?" Dallon sort of gushed.  
"Sure," Gerard stuttered over the single word, he wasn't used to people being this nice, and he wasn't just going to let the fact that Dallon was quite hot go over his head. Gerard pulled out his phone and got his contacts up so that Dallon could put in his number.  
"Okay, done. So what do you have first up?"  
"Umm," Gerard said as he looked at his timetable, "English with Mrs. Wentz? In room 4B."  
"Oooh, you're in my class first up, the teacher is one of my friend’s mother, how 'bout you come and meet some of my friends on the way to English?"  
"Sure," Gerard said even though he didn't really feel like talking to people.  
Suddenly, the bell went. Gerard jumped slightly and started to panic, he didn't want to be late to class on his first day of school.  
Dallon sensed Gerard's panic; "don't worry; they give a first bell to tell you to start heading to class. But I didn't realise the time so we'll have to go straight to class, I'll introduce you to the guys at recess."  
Gerard breathed a sigh of relief as he walked side by side with Dallon through the halls to their English class.

His morning classes passed pretty uneventfully, having to introduce himself and such and then jotting down a lot of notes. Then at recess as he was walking to his locker he heard his name being called and turned to see Dallon waving at him.  
Dallon walked over to Gerard and a group of people followed him.  
Dallon told Gerard each of their names in turn but Gerard only caught a couple – Spencer, Jon, Pete (who’s mum was the teacher), Patrick and Alex - and he highly doubted he would remember anyone's faces after recess. They all seemed pretty nice though, punks and geeks that tried to hide that they were punks and geeks. They weren't unpopular so Gerard assumed people didn't know that they were punks and geeks. Oh well, Gerard decided he would hang out with these guys until he knew who else was alright - by his standards, not the popularity standards.

He hadn't seen Mikey all day, though it was quite a big school so he wasn't worried.  
Gerard hadn't expected to see anyone he had seen before at this school so that's why he was shocked that when he walked into his drama class and stood up the front introducing himself he saw the guy he had made awkward eye contact with on the other side of the club the other night.  
Gerard pretended to look at though he were listening to all the people tell him about themselves, but he was really just waiting to see what that boy's name was. He did catch the guy's friend's name though - Ray Toro - and that he was a guitarist. Then finally, the guy he was waiting for spoke; "Frank Iero and my life is pretty much about music."  
Gerard kept his eyes on the guy - Frank - a little longer than was necessary until the teacher told him to sit down anywhere.  
Gerard couldn't keep his mind off this Frank guy for some reason, so instead of letting it get to him for the lesson, he decided to concentrate and take a lot of notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, next chapter the story starts to move along, sorry this is all still kind of setting everything up at the moment. Comments are welcome if you would like to call me out on something or is my writing isn't up to scratch so, thanks again! :)


	5. Lunch. Just don't eat the food from the cafeteria.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank invites Gerard to their lunch table and introductions occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is late guys! I've been on holidays and my week has been totally crazy with no time to write, luckily I already had this chapter written. I have done a quick edit of this chapter but nothing in depth so I hope it is okay and then I will come back and edit it further, it's just that if I don't post this now I will keep putting it off. Thanking you so much for reading this! x  
> Also I am Australian so hopefully you can put up with my extra 'u's and having a 's' instead of 'z' :)

"Yo! Iero! What up?" Ray yelled from across the hall making a couple people stare at both of us.  
"Not much, man," I said while walking up to him, "I'm just gonna find that Way kid, I’ll meet you in the lunch hall, I think he had last class with Ryan.”  
“Kay, see you later,” Ray said as he went to catch up with Jon who was walking down to hall – Jon and Ray had been friends since they were kids even if they didn’t talk to each other much at school because Jon was, well he wasn’t as outcast as Frank and his friends.  
Frank walked over to the biology classrooms where he spotted Ryan leaving the classroom.  
“Hey, Ry!”  
“Hey, Frank, what are you doing here?”  
“I’m just gonna talk to that Way kid, see if he wants to eat lunch with us,” Frank smiled.  
“Cool, he’s seems pretty chill, just make sure he knows what he is getting into.”  
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve been through this with Toro. Anyway, I’ll see you in the lunch hall.”  
“Have fun, bye,” Ryan said with a little wave as he sauntered off, fixing his overzealous waistcoat as he went.  
Frank laughed at Ryan’s antics as he walked towards the door of the class where he say Gerard still packing up his school things.  
“Hey, Gerard, right?” Frank said as he walked through the door, he didn’t want to seem like a creepy stalker by being confident with the boy’s name.  
Gerard jumped and his open pencil case fell to the floor, spilling pencils everywhere.  
“Oh, sorry for startling you!” Frank apologized as he went to pick up the pencils that had fallen, Geez this kid was easy to frighten. He noticed that the pencils were all different types of led pencils. “Interested in art, then?”  
“I, uh, yeah. And, yeah, I’m Gerard. You’re Frank right? From my drama class?” Gerard mumbled.  
“Yup! I’d really like to see some of your drawings sometime. Also, I think I saw you at the gig the other day, you know at the Hideout?” Frank said as Gerard leant over to pick up some pencils as well.  
“Yeah! I thought you looked familiar, just hard to recognise people when they aren’t under the lights,” Gerard laughed.  
“Aha, yeah, you’re red hair’s a little hard to miss though,” Frank smiled.  
“It can be a curse,” Gerard mumbled.  
“But totally rad.”  
Gerard smiled back at Frank, “So, it seemed like you were gonna say something before I dropped all my stuff?”  
“Uh, yeah, I was wondering if you wanna come and sit with my friend’s and I at lunch? Don’t feel obliged though, we’re like the least popular people in school, although people are kind of scared of us so they leave us to ourselves,” Frank rambled.  
“I’d love to, I’ve never really cared for popularity,” Gerard smiled again.  
“Oh, cool!” Frank handed Gerard’s pencils to him and Gerard zipped up his bag.  
They chatted about the gig as they went along their short walk to the lunch hall.  
As soon as they entered the cafeteria Ray beckoned over to Frank and the two boys headed over towards the table of misfits.  
“Hey, Frank, Gerard!” Dallon waved as they walked pass his table.  
“Hey, Dallon,” Frank and Gerard said at the same time.  
“Alright, so here are the fuckers that I happen to call friends,” Frank said as the guys waved at Gerard, “So, Ray’s the chill guitarist and the main reason we don’t get beat up.”  
“I’m not that scary, Iero,” Ray protested while the others laughed.  
“Keep telling yourself that, Toro! Ryan and Brendon are totally gay for each other they just haven’t figured that out yet,” Frank laughed as they both flipped him off. “Bob’s the drummer who fits all drummer stereotypes.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean, Iero?” Bob complained.  
“Stoned and failing all your classes, Bryar.”  
“Can’t exactly deny that.”  
“That one is Vic, he and Kellin – the one draped over him – are the ones with the killer voices, but don’t lock them in a bedroom together, they’re screamers,” Frank winked.  
“Fuck off, Iero.”  
“Well, the first part was a compliment! Then we have Turtle, aka Tony, who looks mean but is obsessed over cute animals and Mike, who is Vic’s younger brother and barely hangs out with us because he hates being reminded of the time he walked in on Vic and Kellin,” Frank finished with a laugh as Mike flipped him off and stalked off towards Dallon’s table.  
“Everyone, this is Gerard, he’s in our year and he went to that gig at the Hideout on the weekend.”  
Variations of ‘hey, Gerard’ went around the group as Frank sat down, getting punch awkwardly in the arm by Ryan along with an exclamation of ‘fucker’, in the process.  
Gerard smiled and said ‘hey’ awkwardly and then said to Frank “I might go get some food.”  
“Nah, man. Cafeteria sucks, barely edible. I bring enough food to school for two anyway,” Frank replied and patted the seat next to him for Gerard to sit down.  
“You sure?” Gerard asked, scared that he was being set up because these guys were all so nice.  
“Yeah! Of course!”  
"Cool," Gerard said as he sat down at the table and everyone fell into their own conversations.  
"So, where did you move here from?" Frank asked as chucked a couple sandwiches and packets of chips onto the table with a flourish of his hand showing that Gerard can have any of it that he wanted.  
Gerard picked up one of the sandwiches that looked like it had peanut butter on it, "Thanks, and I lived in the area already, just changed schools because of some stuff."  
Frank nodded and didn't ask anymore on that subject as he could see that Gerard was getting a little anxious.  
"Yeah, anyway, you must have a good taste in music considering that you were at that gig, you go there often?"  
"It's not the usual place I go, but I think it's better so I might end up going there more often."  
"Mmm, it's my favourite place, you should come along with us this weekend! They got the same band from last time playing," Frank said, getting excited.  
"Yeah, that would be cool," Gerard nodded as a wider smile erupted on Frank's face.  
"Awesome. So, who're your favourite bands?"  
"Umm, Misfits and Black Flag are my favourites I think but I like a lot of bands, I guess."  
"You are like my new best friend!" Frank practically squealed.  
"Oi, what about me, dickhead?" Ray suddenly burst into Frank and Gerard's conversation.  
"You've been moved down to number two," Frank said simply.  
Ray chucked his empty food wrapper at Frank who brushed it off his shoulder onto the floor and then got something out of his bag and passed it to Ray.  
"You can't hate me, I get you the new albums before they come out in the local music store."  
"But, you also work there. Still, thanks, man," Ray beamed.  
"You work at the local music store?" Gerard asked Frank.  
"Yeah," Frank said as he turned back to Gerard, "you should drop around sometime, it's a pretty cool store and if you want any specific albums that aren't there I can always get the manager - Jack - to get them in for you."  
"Awesome," Gerard said and then the two fell into a comfortable silence as they ate and listened to some of the conversations around them.  
Vic, Ryan and Ray were getting into a conversation about guitarists when Ryan turned to Gerard and asked, "Do you play anything Gerard? Not to pressure you or anything but almost everyone here plays something or sings or whatever."  
"Ry, Don't scare the guy away!" Brendon chided.  
"Sorry, but do you?" Ryan insisted.  
"Yeah, I play guitar a little and not very well, but I guess I can sing," Gerard shrugged.  
"Awesome, we sometimes catch up and jam, you interested?" Brendon asked excitedly, this time he was the one receiving a look from Ryan.  
"That would be cool, I've haven't jammed with anyone in ages!"  
"We should catch up this Friday then! My parents are going away so we can stay in the garage and jam in there all weekend and go to Hideout on Sunday night!" Ray said.  
They all agreed to meet at Ray's place on Friday night and would stay there over the weekend just before the bell rang and then they were all rushed off to class again.


	6. 'See you at Ray's later!'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikey asks Gerard for some advice and then Gerard finally gets to jam with someone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating quickly. I haven't been feeling too well, luckily I had this chapter written. Unfortunately, I do not have anymore written even though I know where the story is going. I will try to get the next chapter out by this time next week, please forgive me if I do not though.

The next couple days started a new normality in the group, Gerard was fully accepted by the time he sat down with the group the next day and it was like that the rest of the week. Frank had started waiting outside a couple of Gerard's classes for him and they would walk together for part of the way home after school until Frank turned onto a different road. Gerard was still a little wary of everyone and tried to keep his distance but couldn't help getting along with Frank even if he was scared that he might let something slip out.

"See you at Ray's later!" Frank said as he turned away from Gerard at their usual spot after school.  
"Yeah, bye!" Gerard said happily as he walked down his own street.  
When Gerard got home, Mikey was already there as usual considering the when Gerard walked with Frank they tended to walk slower, sometimes on purpose but mostly sub-consciously.  
"Hey, Mikey!" Gerard said as he walked into the kitchen.  
"Gee," Mikey said, sounding serious and Gerard immediately spun around at that tone of voice, it was the tone of voice that Mikey used when he found out that Gerard had harmed himself. But, Gerard had been careful about doing it right? He had put everything in hidden spots where he was sure even Mikey couldn't find them.  
As Gerard was freaking out about whether he had moved something Mikey spoke again.  
"I know you like guys, but how did you know?"  
Gerard breathed a sigh of relief, this - his brother having identity problems - he could deal with, other things, not so much.  
"I don't know, I guess I just got to that stage where all the guys were supposed to ask girls to the dance and I just didn't want that, I wanted to ask a guy to come with me to a gig. I kind of never really had to think about it much. Why?" Gerard asked, trying not to assume anything.  
"Don't laugh, but there's this guy and I dunno, just feels different I guess. But I don't think that I've like gone off girls or anything, I think I just like this one guy," Mikey shrugged trying to act causal.  
"Okay, so bi then?"  
"Maybe, I dunno, like I said; it's just this one guy."  
"What's his name?"  
"No, you might know him."  
"Yeah, I know, that's the point! I wanna know who my little brother has a crush on!"  
"I do not have a crush!" Mikey said just before he was tackled to the ground by Gerard and then tickled mercilessly.  
"Alright! Alright, I'll tell you!" Mikey laughed and then Gerard stood up and pulled Mikey with him.  
"So, who is it?"  
"Pete."  
"Pete Wentz? Who's mother teaches English?"  
"Yeah, so you know him then?"  
"Mmm-hmm, hung out with him at school till I met Frank."  
"Do you approve then?"  
"I guess, I just thought that Patrick was going for him?"  
"Patrick's gay?!" Mikey stuttered.  
"Might have been my imagination then," Gerard said, he picked up a piece of fruit form the bowl and then left for his room, leaving Mikey to ponder the gayness of his friend.  
Gerard got packed and ready for going to Ray's house for the weekend and then playing video games with Mikey until it was time to leave.  
"Okay, call us if you want to be picked up at anytime." Scott said as Gerard started walking out the door while saying goodbye.  
"Thanks," Gerard smiled.  
"We're really glad that you're making some friends," Anne said giving Gerard a warm smile.  
"So am I," Gerard said and then he left the house, shutting the door behind him.  
When Gerard reached Ray's house through the directions that Frank had told him earlier at school Frank came running out of the garage and slung an arm around Gerard's shoulders.  
"Hey, man! Pumped to be jamming all weekend?" Frank asked as they walked into the garage together.  
"Yeah, definitely!" Gerard exclaimed as he dropped his stuff next to the others' and looked around to see Ray, Brendon, Ryan, Bob, Spencer and Jon. The last two of whom he looked at weirdly.  
"Jon and Spencer, play with Ryan and Brendon mostly, they all like the same stuff whereas Ray, Bob and I tend to play more together but we all mix it up once in a while," Frank reassured Gerard.  
So, Gerard's suspicions were confirmed, they didn't want to be brought down the social ladder at school but they still were friends outside of school.  
"Cool," Gerard said and then went to sit next to Ray on an amp who was fiddling with his guitar.  
"Bren, I've been working on a song?" Ryan said.  
"Yeah? Let's hear it!" Brendon said and everyone listened in.  
Ryan strummed a few chords and then started singing a song

Well she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor  
Just for the attention 'cause that's just ridiculously odd  
Well she sure is gonna get it, here's the setting  
Fashion magazines line the walls now  
The walls line the bullet holes

As Ryan sang on Gerard realised why they had sort of split off into two group, he liked the music but it certainly wasn't what he wanted to play and he was sure that, with the same taste in music, Frank felt the same.  
"Wow, just, awesome!" Brendon all but squealed as he pulled Ryan into a hug and took the lyrics sheet off of him.  
"And you two say you're not gay for each other," Frank smiled fondly at them.  
Ryan and Brendon both looked at him with a horrified expression and then turned away blushing neither of them seeing the other's reaction to Frank's words.  
Gerard wanted to laugh at their reactions but, then he would have to explain why he was laughing and he thinks those two should sort this out on their own.  
"So, Gerard, ever written anything?" Ray asked.  
"Yeah, I've written part of one song, I guess. But I can't play the guitar part and sing at the same time, I'm not that co-ordinated," Gerard laughed and scratched the back of his neck.  
"Show me the guitar part then? I wanna hear you sing this," Frank said picking up his guitar and sitting on the floor.  
"Sure," Gerard said, he got the pieces of paper out of his sketch book and passed them to Frank who started playing what was written.  
"How, are you picking it up so quickly?"  
"Practise and you use a lot of the same chords that I do when I write," Frank smiled up at Gerard.  
After about ten minutes, Frank had the guitar part down and Gerard was getting nervous about singing.  
"Don't be nervous, these guys won't judge, I promise," Frank said in a small voice so that only Gerard could hear him.  
Gerard nodded.  
"C'mon guys, we're waiting!" Ray called.  
Frank started playing and then Gerard sung along;

You're not in this alone  
Let me break this awkward silence  
Let me go, go on record  
Be the first to say I'm sorry  
Hear me out,   
And if you take me down  
Or would you lay me out  
And if the world needs something better  
Let's give them one more reason now, now, now.....

After he finished, everyone - including Frank - was looking at him.  
"What?" he asked self-consciously.  
"You are a fucking brilliant singer," Frank exclaimed which made Gerard blush and look down at his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs are; Time to Dance by Panic! At the Disco and Skylines and Turnstiles by My Chemical Romance So credit to those songs, which are totally amazing.


	7. Change of plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank and Gerard's plans change for the weekend when Frank is called into work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that you have had to wait so long for this. Explanation in the end note.

"I'm not that great," Gerard mumbled.  
"Hell yeah you are!" Ray commented and the others murmured in agreement.  
Gerard blushed and looked down, not really sure how to take the compliment. He only ever received compliments from his BROTHER and those were usually about his sketches followed by a 'fucker' as well as a punch to the arm.  
"Dude, do you want a drink?" Frank asked Gerard as the rest of the group fell into their own conversations.  
"Sure."  
Frank got up and Gerard followed as they went into the kitchen of Ray's house.  
"What do you want, Gee? Bob and Ray STOCKED up before everyone got here."  
"Anything's fine. Did you just call me Gee?"  
"Um, guess I did. I like to give people nicknames, do you mind? I could totally call you Gerard or Way or anything you want?" Frank panicked.  
"Nah, it's fine. It's just weird, no one ever gives me nicknames and it's the same as the one Mikey has had for me since he couldn't say Gerard properly," Gerard smiled at Frank who smiled back.  
"Here you go," Frank said passing Gerard a drink. Gerard thanked him and they walked back out to the garage.  
Brendon, Ryan, Jon and Spencer were getting another song together as they came back into the room.  
After about ten minutes of listening to them play Gerard went out the front with his pack of Marlboros because he was in desperate need of nicotine.  
"I didn't know you smoked?" Frank questioned.  
"Mmm, bad habit," Gerard said as he lit the cigarette, "you want one?" he offered his packet to Frank.  
"Thanks."  
Frank laughed as Gerard fumbled with his lighter trying to light Frank's cigarette for him.  
"Sorry," Gerard mumbled once he had finally got the damned thing lit.  
"It's fine," Frank said as he took a long drag.  
Gerard almost forgot about his own smoke as he watched Frank.  
Suddenly Frank's phone rang. He quickly handed Gerard his cigarette and pulled his phone out from his pocket which seemed to take quite and effort and then took his smoke back.  
He answered the phone with a quick 'Frank here' and then waited while the other person on the line talked at him. Frank nodded and hmm along during the conversation.  
When he finally hung up he looked pissed off.  
"Motherfucker," he sighed taking another drag.  
"What's up?" Gerard questioned.  
"My boss - Jack - is sick and needs me to come in and run the shop tomorrow and Sunday. Fucker."  
"When do you have to work till?"  
"Nine on Saturday and Sunday, just when the gig starts," Frank sighed again, blowing smoke into the air.  
"I could borrow my FAMILIES CAR tomorrow, we could get to the gig not long after it starts?"  
"Would you?"  
"Yeah, of course. Do you mind if I come to work with you though? I really want to see the shop and the other guys are awesome but I don't know if I would feel comfortable sitting there both days with them?"  
Frank could tell that Gerard really didn't want to stay with the other guys alone so he decided to agree, "Yeah, sure, Gee. I have to be at work by seven both days though, is that alright?"  
"Yeah."  
"Awesome, are you sure your parents will let you borrow the car?"  
Gerard flinched, "I'm sure Scott will be fine with it."  
"Okay," Frank said, he didn't know what to say. He really didn't want to pry because he could tell Gerard wasn't fully comfortable with it.  
"Well, time to go in and tell the guys," Franks sighed again as they both took their last drags and then walked inside.  
The guys were pissed off naturally, not at Frank but at Jack for getting sick, which really he couldn't help and he was a pretty cool dude so they couldn't stay mad at him for long.  
Ray offered to come and give Frank some company at the store but was told that Gerard was going to be joining him at the store.  
Gerard called Scott and asked if he could have the second CAR FOR the weekend. Who said that he could have it for Sunday but not Saturday as he had to go somewhere.  
Gerard apologised as he told Frank.  
"Gee, it's fine. It's not too bad a walk from here to the store it's just that getting to the gig walking would have been down right impossible."  
They had been friends for all of three days and Frank already knew just what to say to get Gerard to stop feeling bad. But, Frank had always been good with telling how people were feeling. Like he knew that Gerard was hiding something and that he wasn't comfortable with discussing a lot of things. Frank guessed that conversation would come easier with Gerard the longer they were together but he just wanted to piece together the mystery that was Gerard Way.  
The rest of the night had the guys drinking, smoking and jamming all they could till three am when Frank decided that he needed some rest before work the next day. Frank and Gerard took off inside to the lounge room so that the other guys wouldn't disturb their sleep.   
Frank flopped down on the ground and pulled one of the cushions from the couch with a mumbled, "you take the couch."  
Gerard started to protest but was cut off by Frank saying; "I'm used to sleeping on the floor, take the couch and just fucking sleep, man."  
"Okay, g'night Frankie," Gerard said as he hopped onto the couch.  
Frank let out a slight huffy laugh and five minutes later they were both asleep.  
\  
The Misfits blaring at them from Frank's phone woke them up in the morning.  
Gerard got up and turned off the alarm as Frank just groaned and rolled over.  
"Man, Jack's a dickhead. Why'd he have to go get sick?" Frank said as he started to stand up but Gerard was already there with pain relief and water that he had taken from the KITCHEN COUNTER where Ray had left a note saying that they could eat what they could find.  
Frank and Gerard eventually got ready and fed, they left through the garage and saw everyone has fallen asleep except Brendon and Ryan who were lazily chatting in the corner.  
"See you later guys," Brendon whispered way too cheerily for half past six in the morning.  
"Bye," Frank said with a wave and then the two are off down the road for the half an hours walk to the record shop.  
They were mostly silent as they trudged onwards, the cold slightly stinging their eyes that were still heavy with sleep.  
When they finally got to the shop, Frank pulled out his key and then motioned for Gerard to step inside as he pulled a sign out from inside to say the shop was open.  
Gerard was in awe that Frank had gotten a job at such a cool place. It looked as though they had every record and CD that Gerard had ever wanted to own and all of the ones he did own.  
Frank jumped over the counter and dumped his stuff in the room behind as Gerard followed him.  
"There's some snacks and drinks in the fridge if you get hungry, I usually go down the road for lunch break if you're cool with that?"  
Gerard nodded as he put his stuff down next to Frank's.  
"Only really have to wait until customers get here now, Jack had Alex come in on Friday night and organise all the new stock so it's a pretty easy job today. You can choose something to put on from here if you want?" Frank said as he pointed at the shelf in the room they were in.  
Gerard pulled out his favourite Black Flag album and handed it to Frank who walked back to the counter where a record player stood.  
They both sighed in relief as the room was filled with music.  
They talked about music for a while as Frank showed Gerard where everything was in case a customer needed help and Frank was busy.  
Eventually the bell on the door chimed as the boys were chatting behind the counter.  
"Frank, dear, I thought you were at Ray's this weekend?" an older lady questioned as she walked through the store.  
Gerard wondered what someone like her was doing in a store like this but his questioned was answered when Frank said; "Jack was sick and needed me in, ma. Sorry that I didn't tell you."  
"That's okay," she smiled sweetly at him and then her face turned towards Gerard and turned into a questioning look.  
"Oh, ma, this is Gerard. He's new at school, in our year."  
"Nice to meet you, Gerard. I hope my son hasn't been much of a bad influence on you," she said jokingly.  
Gerard presumed she didn't know about the smoking and drinking thing.  
"Not at all," Gerard smiled.  
"Well, Frank, I was in here to find you a present but since you are working today it will have to wait till a later date."  
"You know you don't have to get me anything," Frank said looking down at the counter.  
"Of course I do, you’re my only son!"  
"But, ma!" Frank protested.  
"No, 'but's. I will let you get back to work now. Nice to meet you, Gerard. My name is Linda by the way," the lady smiled sweetly again.  
"Nice to meet you too," Gerard said and then Linda left with a wave to them both as she pushed through the door.  
"She really shouldn't get me anything," Frank sighed under his breath.  
"Why's that?" Gerard asked thoughtfully.  
"What? Oh, hmm, well, we don't have much money. I mean, that's the reason I have this job," Frank said self-consciously.  
"Oh, well, it's a cool job anyway," Gerard half-smiled.  
"Yeah, yeah it is and Jack's a great boss. Lenient and stuff."  
Over the day they kept talking and serving customers, Gerard even having to help some as the store got busier in the afternoon.  
When closing time came Frank picked up an extra SCARF from the room behind the counter.  
"I get sick easily," Frank explained as they walked out the door and Frank locked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again. I was recently in hospital for depression and anxiety related reasons. I was in there for a week and they put me on new medication. The medication has been helping me but I am still getting back on track, especially with exams coming up in two weeks. Thank you for reading this and sorry again for the lateness of it all.


	8. IT'S NOT A CHAPTER IT'S AN EXPLANATION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations are needed.

Okay so, I had more of this story written on my external hard drive and forgot to back it up so I lost it. I have been in hospital again and have been struggling to get to school everyday let alone keep writing. I was put into a psych ward and am now at home, I honestly think the experience helped me and I feel as though I am getting better. I have no idea where I was going with this story because I have lost it but I have decided on a new direction and am going to be back in the game as soon as I can. I want to thank every one of you who read this and put kudos on it. Hopefully you will enjoy the rest of the story.  
See you next week hopefully.  
xo J.


	9. Every time that you lose it sing it for the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gee and Frankie strengthen their friendship and Frank knows that something's up with Gerard and he wants to find out what it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter! :O Finally!!! I wrote this today, I am so happy that I can write again. I feel on top of the world at the moment. Everything seems as though it is going a bit fast in the story, but tell me what you think and hopefully I can placate you with the story line :D It's so good to be back and I have written another chapter after this already and I'm thinking I might put that up soon also. I hope you guys like this. I think my writing style has changed a bit since I last wrote a chapter but I hope you enjoy it and I'll stop rambling. Enjoy xoJ

“So, when is your birthday?” Gerard asked out of sheer awkwardness on the walk back to Ray’s house, the silence had been bugging him for all of the five minutes that they had already walked.  
“Oh, um, Halloween,” Frank smiled sheepishly at this.  
“Awesome! You are so lucky!”  
“I know.”  
Their conversation moved onto comic books, movies and then, of course, music and it felt like no time to them till they were back at Ray’s and ravenous.  
“How’d the shop go today?” Ray asked as they walked into the garage.  
“Alright, got most of the usuals,” Frank responded.  
“I swear you must know every goddamn punk in all of Jersey by now!” Bob interrupted.  
“Nope, only in Belleville.”  
“There’s left over lasagna in the fridge from dinner if you want some,” Ray said.  
Gerard was about to respond with a ‘thanks’ when something completely different came out of his mouth; “Did you guys cook it because I don’t want to be getting food poisoning because of you pricks.”  
For a second there was silence and then Frank’s laugh broke the tension, “Exactly what I was thinking!”  
Everyone then realised it was a joke and started joining in on the laughter.  
“Finally coming out of that enormously deep shell of yours?” Ryan asked in jest.  
“Yes, but I’ve made further progress to the front of my shell than you have to the door of your closet,” Gerard laughed back and there was another round of laughter with a bright red face on Ryan’s part.  
After a few minutes of chilling with the guys Frank and Gerard went into the kitchen to eat the leftover – shop-bought – lasagna.  
“You look at little more comfortably with the guys now, Gee,” Frank said, smiling over their rather tasteless dinner.  
“You guys are like the friends I always wanted to have,” Gerard looked down whilst saying this and blushed slightly.  
“Well, from now on we will be the friends you do have.”  
“Ugh, chick-flick moment. Guys, stop getting so soppy, you’re just having crappy lasagna for Christ’s sakes!” Bob grumbled jokingly as he went to the fridge to get out some more drinks.  
“For all you know this could be the best lasagna in the world for us and this moment could change our lives!” Frank retorted with a smile on his face.  
That was the moment that Gerard realised that that was the moment that had changed his life, he had friends and Frank was soon becoming his best friend. Everything was starting to look up for Gerard, he wasn’t generally known as an optimistic person, but – with these guys – he could see himself surviving high school, graduating, jamming on weekends and always just keeping each other going. For two more days he mostly felt like this feeling would never end and everything would be okay.  
The rest of the night consisted of more music playing, sitting around talking and then watching a couple horror movies due to the fact that Halloween was coming up.  
After two movies Frank made the others promise not to watch anymore while he and Gerard went to sleep because they didn’t want to miss out on anything – even though they had both seen all the movies a couple times before.  
They went to sleep again with Frank telling Gerard to take the couch and there was a bit of mumbled talk before they both drifted off.  
Awakening to the Misfits a second day in a row, they took the pain killers and food provided to them by Ray. Their spirits were up a little higher today as they only had a five minute walk to Gerard’s and then got to pick up Scott’s second car. When they got to Gerard’s house Frank stayed out the front while Gerard dashed in and grabbed the car keys, he didn’t want to talk to anyone from his ‘family’ right now, he just wanted to talk to Frank.  
They opened up the shop before seven and put on some music.  
Today Frank was determined to get closer to Gerard, he wanted to know at least something that the guy was hiding from everyone, he knew this was gonna be hard, but he thought that if he could prove to Gerard that he was trustworthy enough he might just open up.  
“Geeeeeeeeeeee,” Frank whined jokingly, by now it was eleven o’clock and there were heaps of people walking down the street but not many entering the store.  
“Yes, Frankieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?” Gerard whined back and he couldn’t help being reminded of how he and his brother acted like this.  
“I’m bored.”  
“Then, drum up some customers?”  
“How?”  
“I have an idea, it may be crazy though.”  
“That’s alright, I love crazy,” Frank smiled manically at this as Gerard went behind the desk into the store room and pulled out an old acoustic guitar and a tuner.  
“Tune this up,” Gerard said and then he rifled through his bag to find his sheet music that he had brought over for the jamming sessions.  
Gerard went and opened the door, putting two stools just outside of the doorway and passing Frank his jacket.  
“I don’t want you to get a cold because of my crazy idea,” he explained as they sat out on the stools and Frank started to follow what Gerard had written down.  
Lovely acoustic riffs filled the air and suddenly passer-by’s were looking in their direction and taking interest. And then Gerard started to sing, not one person could walk past that shop without at least looking in the boys’ direction and admiring their talent, many people stopped to listen.  
After two songs Gerard heard Frank try to stop a sneeze.  
Finally he noticed the large crowd around him and became petrified, it was like he was in a trance whilst he was singing. With his last spout of courage he stood up and addressed everybody; “Hi, um, Frankie here is getting cold, so we’re gonna go inside, you’re welcome to come and join us.”  
His smiled faltered but was plastered straight back on, not before Frank noticed and he knew he would have to ask about it later.  
They went inside and sat behind the counter and Frank started to pluck out another song.  
The tip jar was filled with people’s change as if the boys were busking and when the boys took a rest after each song they sold a lot of stock. After completing all five songs that Gerard had written they said that that was all they had in them today, but due to the fact of word of mouth people were coming in all day and they played a couple songs over again.  
The boys couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon but once the store finally started to slow down Gerard wasn’t quite himself.  
When there was no one in the shop Frank seized his opportunity.  
“Gee, what’s wrong?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean, you were epic today, totally kicked ass, but now you’re not quite yourself.”  
“I have my reasons.”  
“Am I allowed to know what these reasons are?”  
“No!” Gerard said in a scared voice and then gained control; “I mean, you will think I’m stupid or crazy or something.”  
“Gee, I could never think you were crazy and even if I did I’m pretty sure that that would mean that I am also crazy.”  
“I just, can’t tell you at the moment okay?”  
“Mmm’kay. But I just want to say that I hope you can trust me one day to tell me, I promise I won’t think you’re weird. Also, the people loved you today.” Frank hoped that the change of subject might clear the air and though he had never gotten around to talking a lot to Gerard that day he at least thought he was getting a little closer to the real Gerard.  
“They loved you too, I can’t believe you picked up the music so quickly and you put your own twist on things, it was really great.”  
They closed up a little early, convincing themselves that they had sold more than enough stock today that they needn’t worry about Jack being bothered that they hadn’t stayed till nine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Self promotion, ignore if you want* Hello, I am writing an original story about an androgynous (female) and am tackling mental illness deeper than in this fiction. It is called 'I'm Already Gone. XO Rae'. I hope you read it and like it and so on.  
> *Shameless self promotion*


	10. Scars, secrets and stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: self-harm, family issues, d&ms taking place.  
> Some things just never quite work out the way you want them to. But sometimes, things that go wrong can turn into something that is better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? A new chapter! It's been so long, but I think I'm getting better at this. The only thing I can work on right now is this story, that is good and bad. Bad because school is suffering but good because I'm writing again. I have a couple chapters written up I just don't have great internet so it's hard to post. Anyway, I will let you read the next installment.  
> Till next time, xoJ

Frank drove down to the gig as Gerard still wasn’t feeling that great and as they had just got past Ray’s place the car began to stutter, then it began to shudder and then it began to smoke and they decided that they better not risk driving it any further.  
Frustrated they walked back to Ray’s place and snuck in through the back door which was conveniently unlocked. Frank checked his pockets for his phone but it wasn’t where it was supposed to be.  
“Shit, must have left it at the store. Do you have a mobile?”  
“No, I never have, sorry,” Gerard responded.  
“Not your fault, why don’t the bloody Toro’s own a home phone?!”  
Gerard stayed silent because he could feel that Frank was getting a bit irritated.  
“Guess, we’re stuck here then. How about a smoke and then a beer and a movie?”  
“Sounds good, to be honest, I don’t know whether I could have handled a gig tonight,” Gerard said and then looked as if he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.  
“Are you sure you can’t tell me what’s wrong, Gee?”  
“Give me a smoke and a beer and then I might be more open to suggestion.”  
They did just that and after a raid of Ray’s fridge they set up for a movie marathon till the others came back from the gig.  
At the end of the first movie – the classic Pet Sematary – Frank picked up another couple beers and put on a Black Flag CD from Ray’s room.  
“Would it make you feel better about talking to me if I talk to you?”  
“Possibly,” Gerard said suspiciously whilst taking a beer from Frank.  
“Okay then, ask me anything.”  
“Anything?”  
“Yup, nothing is off limits.”  
“Wow, um okay. I can’t think of anything to ask you.”  
“Well, pick a part of my life you’re interested in, tell me and then I will just talk. How about that?”  
“That sounds, reasonable. Umm, parents?”  
“Good choice. Ah, my dad left me and mum when I was young. It’s been mum and I ever since. She never got any formal training so she has to go with whatever jobs she can get, she got depression after dad left when we were doing really tough. I have hated him ever since then, you can’t just leave your family like that.”  
“I don’t really know what to say about that, I’m sorry.”  
“It’s alright, I’ve gotten over it mostly now. Would it be too much to ask about your parents?”  
“Probably, but I guess that you just told me your story, I might as well tell you mine.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yeah, just don’t get weird or anything…”  
“Promise.”  
“Okay. Well, my mother died in a car crash two months after Mikey was born, our father couldn’t cope with all of it so we were sent to our grandmother’s. We never heard from our father again and after my grandmother passed away when Mikey was five we were put into foster homes, not everyone was so great. We have been lucky with who we are living with now though. They’re lovely, it’s just hard to settle down anywhere.”  
A minute of silence passed.  
“Wow,” Frank whispered.  
By now a tear had rolled down Gerard’s cheek. This was the first time he had told anyone anything since having to tell social workers a version of it over and over again.  
Frank sat up silently from where he had been almost lying down on the couch, he enclosed Gerard in a hug.  
As soon as Gerard’s head hit Frank’s shoulder he was bawling, shaking whilst tears silently streamed down his face.  
Frank held onto Gerard until he calmed down, Gerard eventually pulled back.  
“Your shirt … sorry.”  
“It’s alright, more shirts where that came from.”  
Gerard smiled a little and wiped his eyes on his sleeve.  
Frank looked down.  
That was when Gerard noticed that his other sleeve had pulled up during his crying.  
Gerard didn’t have time to take a breath before Frank had taken his hand and pushed the sleeve up the rest of the way.  
Gerard could only look at Frank’s face to see how he was taking it.  
Frank’s eyes rimmed with tears as he stared down at the angry scars and cuts, white scarred ones covered with red puffy recent cuts. His heart leapt and he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t bare the fact that someone could do that to themselves, let alone someone like Gerard. He couldn’t fathom how much pain Gerard was going through and all he could do was pull Gerard into another hug.  
Gerard was surprised to say the least, he thought that Frank would leave or laugh or just anything but this. No one had done this before when they found out. They thought he was a weirdo, a fuck up and crazy.

They stayed like that for ages until one of them could speak.  
“Gee.”  
“I’m sorry, Frankie. I just, you weren’t meant to see that. I’m so sorry, you didn’t –“  
“Gee! Why the hell are you apologizing? Did you think I would just turn you away or something? Honestly, I don’t understand it, I don’t, you are such a great person. I don’t understand it at all, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not gonna just push you away or something. If you’ve got stuff to sort through, that’s okay, I’ll be right here, okay? Isn’t that what friends are for? If you want to tell me stuff, if you think it will help, you can. I promise you, you can never do anything to change the fact that I will be here for you. I don’t know what else to say. Just, it’ll be okay, okay? I know it doesn’t seem like it and that it is such a cliché thing to say, but it will be, it’ll be better. I’ll make sure of it.”  
Gerard was lost for words again. Just when he thought that he had cried all he could, more tears started rolling down his face.  
Frank said nothing this time. He just spread out a blanket on the floor, pulled Gerard down, spread another blanket over them both and then put on another film, he put an arm around Gerard’s shoulder ad after a while they both fell asleep like that and they didn’t wake up till the other guys got back around midnight.


	11. I thought we were past that.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter? I am really enjoying writing again and have heaps of time to do it at the moment as I have been home the last week with possible glangela (is that how you spell it?) fever. I'll let you read then.

“Wake up, lover boys,” Bob laughed, stomping through the lounge room.  
Gerard and Frank looked up at him blearily.  
“Why didn’t you come to the gig?” Ray asked as he sat down on the couch.  
“They were too busy,” Bob said with a suggestive eye brow move.  
“The car broke down,” Frank stated ignoring Bob altogether.  
“You missed a great show, anyway. I’m taking the other guys home, we’re already stuffing six into a five person car. Are you guys alright to walk home?” Ray asked.  
“I’m fine with that,” Gerard said.  
“Yep, all good,” Frank responded.  
“Okay, well, get your stuff together we’re gonna leave in five.”  
“Mmm ’kay,” Frank responded as he snuggled back into the blankets.  
On the other hand Gerard got up and gathered the few things he had taken for the weekend and then went outside for a smoke and to figure out how he felt.  
He had told someone.  
Well, not told, but Frankie knew now.  
He felt relieved.  
And scared.  
He didn’t know which emotion was worse and they fed off each other until his thoughts soon spiralled out of control.  
He was so caught up that he didn’t even notice when Frank came out for a smoke as well.  
“You alright?”  
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Gerard said with a forced smile.  
“Don’t say that, I thought we were pass that?”  
“Alright, I’m scared, happy?”  
“Very. Why are you scared?”  
“Because of you. Now that you know you can do anything, you could ruin everything if you wanted and then me and Mikey would have to move schools again, I would probably have to repeat this year again and Mikey might have to repeat his year as well. We might have to move foster homes if they think we’re not doing well here. I don’t know how I could cope with another move. Please, Frankie. I just can’t.”  
“Gee, stop worrying, okay? I won’t tell anyone anything, I promise. I couldn’t do that to you, Gerard. I want to help you get through this. You and Mikey are going to stay here. You guys are going to stay in Belleville, you’re going to finish this year and move onto your last one. Then you’re going to go on and have an amazing life.” Frank’s eyes shone in the moonlight, full of sincerity.  
Gerard couldn’t help but believe him.  
As they walked off into the darkness after a goodbye to the guys, Gerard couldn’t help but think that everything might be okay.

And then with the momentum of time, along came school.  
Gerard met up with his friends at their usual corner before they started to finish the walk to school together.  
The main topic of conversation during the walk was about the gig and how unlucky it was that Frank and Gerard had missed it. It seems that they had also missed a bit of drama, Ryan met a girl the other night and Brendon caught them making out, his silent treatment was still at its highest level, much to the rest of the groups’ amusement and Ryan’s dismay.  
“You do know that this just makes you guys seem like you’re more of a couple than ever, right?” Frank asked as they started toward the main building of their school.  
“Gee!”  
Gerard turned at the sound of a voice he knew immediately. He hurried across the lawn quickly to the scrawny boy, leaving Frank and the others in a confused daze.  
“Mikey, what’s up?”  
“I heard people talking about you at school, apparently someone from our old school knows someone here-“  
“Do they know that we’re brothers?”  
“I don’t know, but they know that you’re, you know, gay. And I don’t think they like it.”  
“I can deal with that, it’s gonna be okay, Mikes, We’ll see what today brings,” Gerard’s voice sounded calm and collected on the outside but on the inside he was freaking out. He didn’t know what to do and felt like running home that very second, but he couldn’t do that to Mikey and it would take a lot of explaining to everyone else.  
“Just go about your day as if you don’t know me okay. I don’t want you caught up in this, again.”  
“I’m sick of this, I just want to be known as your brother.”  
“One day, when people are more…accepting. I’ve got to go, my friends will be wondering why I’m talking to one of the ‘cool’ kids.”  
“I’m not cool.”  
“Compared to me you are, deal with it,” Gerard said with a smile and a light punch to Mikey’s arm.  
“Bye, Gee,” Mikey said as he walked off back to his group who were hanging outside the library building.  
“I love you, Mikey,” Gerard whispered to himself, “I hope they don’t figure out who you are.”  
“Who was that?” Frank asked as Gerard walked back to the group.  
“If I tell you, you aren’t allowed to tell anyone else at school.”  
The boys all looked confused all over again but promised him anyway.  
“That’s my brother.”  
“Your brother is one of the cool kids?” Ryan asked.  
“I guess so.”  
“Is he with the asshole group?” Bob asked.  
“No, he’s with Pete and Dallon,” Brendon answered.  
While the others were squabbling about who were assholes and who weren’t Frank took Gerard aside.  
“What was Mikey worried about?”  
“Huh? Oh, nothing.”  
“You can trust me, Gee, please tell me.”  
“He thinks that someone here is in touch with someone from our old school and is telling people here about what happened last time. I’m sure it’s nothing, Mikes gets worked up sometimes.”  
“But you are worried, I can see it. Let’s just go in and see what the school has to offer.”  
Gerard nodded hesitantly and then they started to follow the rest of their group into the school.  
An instant yell of ‘fag’ echoed in the hallway as Gerard became visible, nobody but himself in his group knew who the word was specifically aimed towards as the group were sometimes called fags as a whole if they wore a little too much eyeliner.  
Everyone noticed who the words were aimed at once another person yelled a very unoriginal three words that Gerard had heard too many times.  
“Way the Gay,” a young adolescent voice yelled and with the all eyes in the corridor were turned towards the boy with red hair.  
“Fuck,” Bob whispered under his breath and stepped back a little to make sure that nobody was going to try anything too serious on Gerard.  
“I’m going to fucking rip them to shreds,” Frank breathed as they all huddled in a group to get away from the mass barrage of people yelling at Gerard.  
Gerard put a hand on Frank’s arm to calm him down.  
“It’s alright, they’re being pretty boring, actually, totally unoriginal,” Gerard said with what he hoped was a convincing smile.  
Frank grimaced back at him as the boys plunged on through the crowd.  
Eventually the guys got out of the main crowd and went to the only place that they could; the music suite.  
They walked in and shut the door, hoping no one had seen them enter, people weren’t usually on this side of the school unless they were in music anyway.  
“What was that all about?” Ryan asked.  
“Yeah, I thought they were yelling at me or something, but that was like ten times worse than anything that has been thrown my way,” Brendon stated as everyone started to relax and sit down.  
“I think we learnt something from this morning, even if Gerard here won’t tell us how everyone in the school knew,” Ray said thoughtfully.  
Gerard’s cheeks flooded crimson as it finally sunk in with everyone that; Gerard was, in fact, very gay.  
“I should have guessed it,” Bob laughed, they all joined in the laughter one by one until even Gerard was chuckling.  
“Are you gonna tell us what that was all about? Besides the obvious of course. Why did we have to save your ass? None of us would have known so how did they?” Ryan wondered, looking mockingly pissed off.  
“Well, at my old school everyone found out. They got a lot worse than what happened this morning, that was why Mikey and I left, apparently someone from our old school knew someone from this school and said ‘hey, the guy with the bright red hair? Yeah, he’s no straighter than a plate of spaghetti.’”  
“I am so using that term!” Ray said and everyone fell into another fit of laughter.  
With a bit of convincing Gerard was able to convince the guys that it was alright for him – and everyone else – to go to class as usual, in fact it was probably better to let the people know that he did not care one bit that they knew he was gay. Well, that’s what Gerard wanted them to think when all he really wanted to do was; go home, blast the Misfits, jump on his bed and draw angry comic strips.


	12. Realisations for everyone, even if they deny it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I stayed up a couple nights ago till like 3am writing because I just couldn't stop. This is a short chapter but I'm putting up the next one right away. I hope you guys are enjoying this. Please comment, I hope I'm going in the right direction.

Every minute out in the hallways felt like an hour of hell to Gerard, but he had to grin and bared it. His middle finger had been overused and he was sick of saying ‘and proud of it’ by the end of the day. He knew his life would be like this, probably for a week or two and then it may die down enough to let him finish his year of school and be prepare for his last year – of school that is.

“Gee,” Mikey exclaimed as he jumped onto Gerard’s bed.  
“Mikes, get off of me. You know the rules, no waking me up before my alarm unless you have coffee for me.”  
“I do have coffee for you.”  
“Thank God, but still, get off me, I want coffee,” Gerard said as he sat up and took the mug from the second hand coffee table in his room where Mikey had put it down before jumping on him.  
“Why don’t you let any light into this basement?”  
“Um, because fuck you, that’s why. Actually, no, I am a vampire.”  
“Second reason is actually more believable, I mean; pasty skin, doesn’t like the sun. But I think even if you were a vampire you would still drink more coffee than blood.”  
“True.”  
“I don’t wanna go to school today, Gee,” Mikey pouted.  
“Neither do I, Mikes. But, why don’t you wanna go?”  
“Umm, well, uhh,” was Mikey’s response before he sighed and fell back onto Gerard’s bed and put a pillow over his face. “High pohems.”  
“Are you trying to tell me you need to get high to write some poems or am I hearing you wrong?”  
“Guy problems,” Mikey whispered after he had lifted the pillow slightly.  
“What?! The great Mikey, the chick magnet is having; guy problems!?” Gerard laughed.  
“Hey, don’t you laugh at me.”  
“But you’re my brother.”  
Mikey gave Gerard his best bitchface which told Gerard that he better listen or his brother was putting salt in his next coffee instead of sugar.  
“Okay, what are your guy problems?”  
“Pete.”  
“I don’t see a problem there?”  
“Patrick.”  
“Oh, so I was right, he is gay?”  
“I’m pretty sure.”  
“Well, invite Pete over or something.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, he plays bass, you’re trying to play bass,” that earned Gerard a punch in the arm.  
“I’m good and you know it,” Mikey interrupted.  
“Yeah, I know, but why not. Just see what happens. Anyway, we should start getting ready. I want to get to school early so that I can get to the music suite before too many people are in the hallways.”  
“Is it really bad, Gee?”  
“Not really, nowhere near as bad as last time, I just don’t really want to deal with these people without the right amount of coffees in me first, and having that amount of coffees before school would probably kill me.”  
Mikey forced out a laugh and a smile, Gerard pretended not to notice that it was forced and then Mikey left.  
Gerard and his brother had never been like this, they had always been open with each other, especially if one of them wasn’t feeling good about something, and they knew when the other was hurting. Since when had they started to grow apart and since when did Gerard start being a sucky brother.  
Gerard pondered this and many other things as he got ready for school that morning.  
Without waiting for the group Gerard walked to school fast and then dashed into the music room even faster once he was there. This resulted in the minimum amount of taunts and maximum amount of thinking time. It was a win, win.  
Frank arrived first, once he had figured out that Gerard had probably walked to school early, he was off and no one could catch up to that little guy.  
They talked for a while and they both had study for the morning’s lessons so they stayed in the music suite and jammed together for a while with Ray joining them halfway through.  
The rest of the week was manageable and even partially enjoyable for Gerard. He got to know the guys even better and the taunts of the other students were dying away as the excitement of tormenting a fellow student lessened when they received no reaction from that individual.  
Frank, on the other hand, was dealing with things he never thought he would have to in his life.


	13. Ray, I'm not gay for Gerard Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I told you I was putting this straight up after the other chapter. I hope you like this. I just really want the story to move along and everyone to be happy, but I think something else has to happen before I can give them a happy ending... I don't know what to do though, any ideas? If you want something different I would love to hear your opinions as I always write better when I have input from other people. :) Anyway, I'll let you read

Frank’s mind whirled every night, with different thoughts, all concerning his new – and probably best – friend; Gerard. Most nights he was just trying to figure out how to help the guy, with the school problems and mental health problems and any other problems in the middle. But sometimes, in the early hours of the morning, when he’s half asleep, he would think of other things, of how Gerard’s bright red hair brushed his cheek before he ran his hand through it to push it back into place, how Gerard’s eyes would brighten when he started talking about music or drawing, how sometimes Frank caught him day dreaming with a faraway look on his face and sometimes, if he didn’t stop himself, he would think of how one side of Gerard’s mouth was always crooked because it was used to holding a cigarette in his mouth.  
In the morning, Frank would always pass these early morning thoughts off as weird dreams because he was always thinking about how to help Gerard, but they were gradually increasing and as they became harder to ignore, Frank wasn’t sure he wanted to ignore them, he just didn’t know exactly what these thoughts meant.  
“Frank!” Linda Iero yelled down the hallway on Saturday morning.  
“Yes, mother?” Frank asked politely as he walked from the other direction to which she was yelling.  
“Oh, I thought you were still in bed, sorry, honey.”  
“That’s okay, ma.”  
“I was just going to tell you that I’m going out to the markets today and am planning to meet up with a friend for coffee. Will you be alright here?”  
“Yeah, can I invite Ray over?”  
“Of course, you know I would never say no to that polite Toro boy coming over.”  
“Thanks, ma. I guess I’ll see you later then.”  
“That you will, goodbye,” Linda waved as she walked out the door.  
“Bye,” Frank said before he bolted the door behind her and headed for the phone to call Ray.

“I still don’t think I really get the fact that Gerard is gay,” Ray said as they got to a slow part in their video game.  
“Really? I had my suspicions from the start.”  
“What tipped you off?”  
“The sass, he has almost as much sass as Brendon, and that is pretty hard to achieve.”  
“Are you saying that only gays can be sassy? Because, you, Iero, can be quite sassy yourself.”  
Frank didn’t respond to that, partially because he didn’t want to and partially because his character was almost dying due to his mind wandering off to Gerard again.

 

“Hi, Pete, come in,” Gerard heard Mikey say at the front door.  
Gerard chugged the rest of his coffee, put on another one, planning to come up in a couple minutes to get it as to avoid watching his brother crush on this dude.  
“Gerard?”  
“Oh, hey, Pete,” Gerard pulled off his pleasantly surprised look.  
“I should have realised that you to are brothers!”  
“Don’t feel bad about it, no one else had realised.”  
“Are you gonna hang out with us today?” Pete asked politely.  
If Gerard was right, which he usually was on these sorts of things when they didn’t involve a girl, Pete was only asking so as not to look like a prick when he didn’t really want Gerard with them at all. Even if Gerard had wanted to join despite his realisation Mikey was giving him a death glare over Pete’s shoulder saying that we was not welcome if he decided to join them.  
“Ah, no,” Mikey’s face flashed with relief and gratitude for his brother, “I’m getting another cup of coffee and then heading off to finish up some overdue homework,” well, that was a lie, he didn’t want to have much more of a conversation by saying he was going to work on his drawings.  
“Oh, okay,” Pete said easily before Mikey led him into the lounge room.  
Gerard picked up his steamy cup of hot coffee and then walked back down to his basement carefully.  
He had a sip of coffee and then laid down on his bed, hoping to let his imagination free before starting on his new sketches.  
After a couple minutes he went to his desk and started to let his hand flow over the paper, not even sure of what he was drawing. He let his mind follow after his pen and hoped for the best.  
Ten minutes later the new character staring up at him was not one that he had imagined himself, but someone he had been thinking about a lot lately.  
He stared at the black haired boy on his paper.  
Frank.  
Gerard threw the paper off his desk, not caring where it landed.  
This wasn’t happening.  
This wasn’t meant to happen.  
Gerard was meant to have a good – even best – friend.  
He wasn’t meant to have some stupid crush on the guy.  
Frank already knew enough about him to ruin him.  
But Frank had stuck with him through it all.  
But Frank was straight.

 

But I’m straight.  
Aren’t I?  
Frank’s mind, which had been constantly slipping to Gerard in the last hour had finally come to a realisation after his character had been killed for the fifth time.  
He liked Gerard.  
Like had a crush on him like.  
Frank didn’t know what to do with this realisation.  
He didn’t even think he liked this realisation.  
He, Frank Iero, was not gay.  
Or was he?  
Heck, he didn’t know. It was probably just teenage hormones.  
Gerard was a hot guy who was also his best friend, it has to be teenage hormones.  
Did he just call Gerard hot?  
Oh God, he was in deep shit.  
“Alright, you’ve been distracted the whole morning, what’s up, man?” Ray asked as he turned off the game that they – mostly Ray – had been playing.  
“I don’t know.” Yes you do.  
“C’mon, man. Is it something about Gerard?”  
“What?! Oh, uh, what do you mean?” Frank tried to cover his surprise at Ray’s pin point guessing skills which he should be used to by now.  
“I mean, you’ve been spending a lot of time with the guy.”  
“So, what? He’s a cool guy.”  
“You’re just different around him. Like happier, or just like you’re taking more notice of things or something,” with this Ray shrugged, trying to take away some of the awkwardness and make everything seem casual.  
“Are you suggesting that I have a crush on him or something,” Frank half-laughed.  
“No.”  
Frank sighed in relief.   
“I am saying you definitely have a crush on him, I was going to ask whether you had accepted it.”  
“Ray, I’m straight.”  
“Are you? You haven’t had a girlfriend since Jamia and haven’t even had a hook up for a month before Gerard came and haven’t even looked at a girl since then.”  
“What? Since when? Are you trying to make me gay?”  
“I’m trying to get you to stop denying the obvious.”  
Frank huffed and laid back on the couch.  
“I approve.”  
“What?”  
“I said, I approve. If you do eventually accept this thing, I approve. You could do a lot worse than Gerard.”  
“What if he doesn’t even like me like that?” Frank clasped his hands over his mouth as soon as he realised what he had said.  
“If you finally do stop lying to yourself you will realise that, yes, he does like you.”  
“But, Ray, I’m not gay for Way!”  
“Were you waiting to use that sentence?”  
“I saw the chance and I took it.”


	14. Don't laugh... I thought about you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW; mentions self harm, although in the context of getting better and not doing it  
> Frank is proud of Gerard.  
> Frank and Gerard hang out.  
> Frank meets the family.  
> Frank and Gerard are just really fluffy in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 60 kudos, 22 subscribers and 5 bookmarks??!!!  
> Thank you so much guys!!  
> I never thought I would actually keep going with this, it is literally the longest I have ever kept a story going, ever.  
> Thank you all for your support and I hope to keep entertaining you with this story until it ends.  
> Also, I don't really have a plan for this story anymore, I'm just writing and what ever happens happens.  
> But yeah, thank you again.  
> Here's another chapter.

Their weekend finished almost uneventfully, just mostly full of thoughts of each other. These thoughts were ones that Frank was still trying to deny and interpret at the same time. Whereas the only thing that Gerard was concerned about was winning Frank over.  
He had decided. If Frank really didn’t go for it, Gerard would pull it off as ‘best-friend banter’. He finally decided that, hell, if he liked Frank, why shouldn’t he go for it. He’s allowed his own happiness even if he thinks that he doesn’t deserve it.  
Gerard was so distracted by Frank over the weekend that he hadn’t even cut once.  
He only noticed the fact when he was walking towards the group of guys that he now called his friends.  
Gerard was dying to tell Frank his good news, but had to wait until everyone was at school and in the music suite, distracted by the old tattered school instruments and wouldn’t care too much that Gerard and Frank went off to talk.  
“What’s up?” Frank asked once they were alone.  
Gerard was practically jumping up and down.  
He cautiously pulled up his sleeve.  
Frank let out a gasp at the scars before taking a second to notice that there were no new ones.  
“Gee,” he looked up smiling at the older boy.  
“I didn’t even try once,” proudness radiated from his smile.  
“Why? Sorry, um, it’s just that, it wasn’t the best week. What stopped you? Not that I’m not proud of you or anything, this is amazing, but yeah.”  
‘Well, I was thinking about… don’t laugh, promise?”  
“I won’t.”  
“I was thinking about you.”  
If possible Frank’s smile became even bigger, he pulled Gerard into a hug and pulled away very reluctantly after a long moment.  
“Gerard Way. You are an amazing human being.”  
“Frank Iero. You are also an amazing human being.”  
They smiled at each other for a minute before they were pulled back into the main room by the other guys.

“Frankie,” Gerard half-whispered at lunch.  
“Mmmhmm,” was Frank’s response to signify that he was listening even though he was writing an essay at the same time.  
“Are you free tonight?”  
“Umm, it’s Monday, right? Then, yep, I’m free. Why?”  
“Would you maybe want to come over to my place after school tonight?”  
“I would like to definitely go over to your place after school.”  
“Awesome,” Gerard said with a hundred-watt smile, “by the way, you might want to rewrite your last sentence, it makes no sense.”  
“That’s because I was trying to concentrate while you were looking over my shoulder,” Frank said after poking his tongue out and then picking up his white-out because of course he was stupid enough to write the whole fucking essay in pen and it would look really messy when he got someone – most likely Gerard – to look through it and correct all the mistakes he had made.  
Oh well, he was probably failing that class anyway. Science was not his strong point.  
“You know,” Gerard said after he had read through some of the assignment, “I could help you with this chemistry stuff if you want? I’m actually not too bad at it, and no offense but it looks like you could use some help.”  
“That would be amazing! I think I’m close to failing.”  
“Gerard Way to the rescue, Frankie shall not fail a class if I have anything to do with it,” Gerard giggled.  
He actually fucking giggles! Oh my God, how am I meant to ignore this when he is too cute for his own good? Wait, did I just call him cute, I mean it’s not like it isn’t true, but, ugh. What am I doing, I am way too out of my depth, Frank thought as Gerard started talking about some new band that he had discovered.

By the end of the day Gerard was so excited to be spending the afternoon with Frank that he practically ran to where Frank was having his last class.  
A smiling Frank walked out of the classroom and they headed toward their lockers to grab their stuff, meeting the other guys on the way out of the main school building.  
When they got to Gerard’s house no one else was home yet so they got some drinks and then headed down to Gerard’s basement.  
“I can’t believe you get to live in the basement, that’s so cool!”  
“They try to convince me to move out into the other bedroom every other day,” Gerard said as he flipped a switch turning on the dim light that wasn’t usually on as he usually only kept his desk lamp on since it was a whiter light and he could see the colours of everything without that yellowy distortion that he hated especially when drawing.  
“Woah, awesome, man!” Frank admired the room as he went to look at each of Gerard’s band posters, CDs and books in turn.  
After finishing looking around Frank finally sat down on Gerard’s bed and Gerard thought to himself about how that was where he wanted Frank all the time.  
Frank looked at a piece of paper on the floor and as he went to reach for it Gerard realised what it was.  
The drawing of Frank that he had done at the start of the weekend.  
“Oh, um,” Gerard was about to try and explain before Frank interrupted him.  
“This is me, right?”  
Gerard could only nod.  
“Wow! This is amazing, Gee! You should like sell art! I love it so much!” Frank gushed.  
“You can keep it if you want, it was quite rushed though.”  
“Really? This is totally going up on my wall and if this is rushed can I see what something looks like when you spend time on it?”  
“Okay,” Gerard said with a nod, he headed over to his desk, picked up his art book which had his comics in it and then grudgingly passed it over to Frank, not used to having people besides Mikey look at his art.  
“These are so perfect! If I had money I would buy these all off you for like thousands of dollars!!” to say that Frank was majorly impressed was an understatement, but even though Gerard’s polished drawings were spectacular he still loved the drawing that Gerard had done of him the best, it seemed to have more feeling in the lines, and a raw appeal about it.  
Mikey appeared at the bottom of the stairs a minute later and was a little surprised to find Frank sitting with Gerard on the bed.  
“Uh, hi,” Mikey said with no emotion on his face.  
“Hi,” Frank beamed up at him.  
“Hey, Mikes, this is Frank, Frankie this is Mikey, my brother.”  
“Okay,” Mikey said and then he went back up to the kitchen.  
“I don’t think he liked me,” Frank pouted.  
“No, if he didn’t like you he would have had his bitchface on, what you saw was like a smile for Mikey.”  
“Oh.” Frank flipped through more of the drawings and within another five minutes there was a knock on the wall at the top of the staircase.  
“Gerard? Mikey said you had a boy over?” Anne asked as she walked down the stairs.  
“Um, yeah, this is Frank. Frank, this is Anne, my foster mother.”  
Frank was blushing at the suggestive tone she was using before about Gerard having a boy over before.  
“It’s nice to meet you, Frank, you’re the first friend that Gerard has had over since they changed school, actually, since before that,” she smiled sadly at the two of them.  
“Oh God, now he knows that I’m not popular, you’ve blown my cover, I had him convinced that I had people over all the time!” Gerard exaggerated.  
Anne laughed at this and was glad to actually see Gerard making jokes around someone that wasn’t Mikey, she left the two alone with a smile on her face and sent Scott down for a quick hello to the boys.  
They passed the rest of the afternoon with music playing, they would talk about music and play games whenever they decided that they had studied enough to have a break – which was more often than necessary.  
By the time six o’clock rolled around Frank decided that, no, he did not want to go home, he wanted to stay here in the basement with this perfect human being forever.  
Unfortunately his mum decided that, yes, he was coming home no matter how perfect the human being was.  
He hugged Gerard goodbye, waved into the kitchen where Anne, Scott and Mikey were getting ready for dinner and then left, walking back home in Gerard’s hoodie because Gerard didn’t want him to catch a cold.


	15. Oh, these teenage boys.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerard talks to Mikey, talks to some other people and then he has a dream. I don't really know what to say about this chapter, just go with it okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I've been writing so much... what is this? Anyway, thank you guys so much for your lovely comments! You are all so wonderful! School for me this year is almost over so I should be able to keep this pace up :)

“Did Frank have your jacket on?” Scott asked as Gerard went to sit down at the table with everyone.  
“Yeah, he catches colds easily so I lent him my jacket.”  
“Are you two going out?” Anne asked casually.  
Gerard coughed rather drastically.  
“Um, no.”  
“But Gee wants to,” Mikey interrupted their conversation.  
Gerard kicked him under the table whilst Mikey just smirked at him.  
Anne, thankfully, left the subject alone for now, but Gerard knew he was going to get an interrogation from Mikey later.

“Geee! When were you going to tell me about Frank?” Mikey whined as he rushed down the stairs into Gerard’s lair.  
Wow, that kid could whine when he wanted to.  
“When there was something to tell you about, we are really just friends, Michael.”  
Mikey cringed at his real name but persisted nonetheless.  
“The way you were looking at each other though, it was like you each thought the other was the best thing in the world,” Mikey said as he collapsed onto Gerard’s bed.  
He is the best thing in the world, Gerard thought.  
“Mikey, your gay is showing.”  
A pillow to the face was his only response as Mikey seemed to make himself comfortable.  
“Tell me about him.”  
“I don’t know what to say. He’s my knight in shining armour, his eyes are the perfect colour – I could stare into them forever and his hair, oh my god, and don’t even get me started on his body, oh dear lord, that boy is hung!” Gerard mimicked one of the popular girls at school.  
He burst out laughing, not being able to keep a straight face even though parts of it were partially true.  
“Gerard! Be serious, for once!” Mikey added a bitchface for emphasis  
“He’s just Frank. Frank is just this awesome five foot four midget with the biggest personality ever.”  
“And you want to get with him.”  
“Basically.”  
“But he’s not gay?” Mikey stated as a question.  
“I don’t think so, but I think I can change that.”  
“Well then, what are you waiting for?”  
“I will do this at my own pace, thank you very much Michael-wants-to-get-in-Pete’s-pants Way.”  
Mikey blushed and turned away with a; “I’m closer to getting any than you are.”  
Gerard responded with a brotherly; “I’m not so sure you are,” and thus ended their conversations as Mikey retreated up the stairs so that he could text Pete.

“Oh, c’mon man, Batman’s so dead!” Bryar laughed as everyone joked around at the table during lunch.  
“He is so not!” Andy Biersack, a guy who barely ever came to school, half-yelled back.  
“Maybe not, but his parents sure are,” Gerard said, just loud enough for everyone to hear and then burst out laughing at.  
Today, Gerard had decided to talk to Vic and Kellin, he wanted advice on a song he was writing and he remembered that Vic and Kellin were both vocalists and guitarists themselves.  
“Hey, Gerard, what’s up?”  
“Not much, I was wondering if you guys could give a listen to a song that I’m writing, I need some advice, I don’t think something’s quite right.”  
“We are happy to oblige,” Kellin stated for the both of them before they took and earphone each.

I would drive on to the end with you  
A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full  
And I feel like there's nothing left to do  
But prove myself to you and we'll keep it running

But this time, I mean it  
I'll let you know just how much you mean to me  
As snow falls on desert sky  
Until the end of everything  
I'm trying, I'm trying  
To let you know how much you mean  
As days fade, and nights grow  
And we go cold

“Wow, who’s this about?” Vic asked as the recording finished.  
“Oh, no one,” Gerard said but his eyes flitted over to Frank who was laughing at some joke that Ray had made about Ryan and Brendon.  
“Suuuure,” Kellin said.  
Gerard blushed as he realised that he had been staring at Frank.   
“I’m not expert but I’m pretty sure you should just go and get that,” Vic said with a wink.  
He blushed even deeper, but luckily he was saved by the bell before they could tease or torture him anymore.  
“If you need advice you know where to find us,” Kellin said softly, but not softly enough apparently.  
“Yeah, fucking in the guys’ change rooms during class,” Jaime laughed as he walked off with the two, not asking any questions about their previous conversation.  
Frank and Gerard had a free period together next and Gerard was looking forward, but scared of it at the same time.  
“So, what were you talking to Vic and Kellin about?”  
“Oh, just singer stuff, a song that I was working on, didn’t sound quite right.”  
Frank could tell that Gerard didn’t want to talk about it so they spent the rest of the walk to the music suite in silence.  
“Oh, your jacket, I totally forgot that I was wearing it all day!” Frank exclaimed once they were in the music suite.  
“That’s alright, you can just give it back whenever, and it’ll still be a cold walk home so you might as well keep it.”  
“Okay, I promise I will give it back though.”  
“You better, it’s one of my favourites,” Gerard said with a smile.  
The two jammed and talked together for the rest of the free period and the rest of the day passed quite uneventfully and soon Gerard found himself sitting in his room and half falling asleep because there was nothing else to do.  
...  
“Gee,” Frank whispered from behind him.  
“Hey, Frankie.”  
“I’m bored,” Frank said, his breath ghosting over Gerard’s shoulder and making him shiver.  
“What am I supposed to do about it?” Gerard muttered, slightly out of breath.  
“Entertain me…”  
…  
“GERARD!” Mikey yelled down the stairs, waking Gerard up.  
“What?!” Gerard yelled back up.  
“Frank’s on the phone!”  
“Tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”  
“Okay!”  
Gerard sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, he was about to get up when he noticed his…problem.  
“Fuck!” he whispered out loud, “Damn being a teenage boy with fucking hormones.”  
He scrambled out of bed, chucked on his biggest hoodie, zipped it up and then ran upstairs to the object of his dream.  
“Hey, Frankie,” he said, sounding a bit out of breath as he reached the phone and something about that reminded him way too much of the dream that he just had and he had to sit down.  
“Hi, Gee,” Frank whispered.  
“What’s wrong, Frank? Have you been crying?”  
Frank sniffled on the other end of the line, “Umm, no. I’ve just been struggling with the science work and it’s just frustrating, and I want to be able to learn it but I just can’t and UGH!”  
“Do you want me to come over?”  
“Yes, please. I’m sorry. It’s like six already so, if you wanted to stay over tonight, you could?”  
“I’ll talk to Anne about it, but I’ll be over there in about ten.”  
“Okay, thank you, Gee.”  
“You don’t have to thank me.”  
“No, I really do,” Frank whispered and then hung up.  
“Who was that?” Anne asked as she walked into the kitchen.  
“It was Frankie. He’s not doing too well with school work and was wondering if I could go over to his place tonight and, if it’s alright with you guys, to stay the night there.”  
Gerard crossed his fingers, and his toes.  
“Yeah, okay. Just, you know, be safe?” she said as a question.  
Gerard laughed and then thanked her as he walked down stairs again to pick up some clothes before heading over to Frank’s.

Frank heard a knock at the door and went rushing downstairs, he opened the door to a slightly shivering Gerard, pulled him into the house and then into a hug.  
“Thank you,” Frank whispered into Gerard’s neck, standing on the tips of his toes to do so.  
Gerard shivered again, but not from the clod this time, was he ever going to get past the point where everything around Frank reminded him of that dream?


	16. Really, guys? C'mon you're totally gay for each other just admit it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry.  
> Frank's house.  
> Cute stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished exams and have now officially finished year 11. You guys are all amazing. If I were to start another story whilst finishing off this one, what main pairing would you like, I was thinking Jalex but what do you guys want? It will be an alternate universe again, but any suggestions on what universe it should be in will be taken in to consideration, I love writing for other people, it gives me more motivation :D This is a short chapter because of exams but school is over so that means more writing for the next 11 weeks. This was a long note.  
> Anyway.  
> Enjoy.  
> xo J

They actually did do homework, surprisingly. Frank got his science revision finished and started on his next assignment for the class before they decided to call it a night on the homework front.  
They had chucked on a movie at about ten, and were still picking at the food that they had brought into the lounge.  
Gerard had been freaking out since they started the movie, his heart pounding. Gerard sat up further, crossed legged just as Frank laid down further on the ground, half in front of Gerard.  
After another couple or so minutes, which to Gerard felt like hours, Gerard built up enough courage and picked up Frank’s hand which was sitting next to his own knee.  
Frank turned his face slightly but didn’t say anything as Gerard started to play with his fingers.  
They sat comfortably yet uncomfortably like that for the rest of the movie when Frank’s mum finally decided to go to bed.  
“Okay, I set up a camp bed in my room, but you can sleep in the bed if you like, you are the guest after all.”  
“No, it’s okay, a camp bed is fine,” Gerard smiled and he got ready in the bathroom before heading back into Frank’s room.  
He was so not prepared for the sight that greeted his eyes.  
Frank was halfway through getting changed with his shirt off.  
Gerard gasped and then said sorry as he stood in the doorway of the room.  
“It’s fine, Gee,” Frank said as he chucked a shirt on.  
Neither of them got to sleep very quickly, because they were both tormented by the fact that the other was so close to them.  
Frank woke up and it took him a second to recognise the whimpers coming from the other side of the room as Gerard’s sobbing.  
“Gee?” Frank asked, rubbing his eyes.  
He was only answered by more crying. Frank got up and walked over to the camp bed.  
“Gee, it’s alright, c’mon. Wake up, it’s gonna be okay,” Frank said louder as he lightly shook Gerard’s shoulder.  
A gasp came from the camp bed and he realised that Gerard was finally awake.  
“Hey, Gee.”  
“Hi, Frankie,” Gerard croaked back.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“N-n-nothing.”  
“Yeah, I totally believe that.”  
“Just a bad dream.”  
“It sounded like one hell of a bad dream. Are you gonna be okay?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“Here, c’mon,” Frank said as he guided Gerard to his feet.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Just, come one,” Frank pulled Gerard down onto his own bed and laid down next to him.  
Frank put an arm around Gerard’s waist and pulled him close while Gerard cried into his shoulder.  
“Shhh, it’s all okay. Gee, you’re with me. It’s all good,” Frank kept whispering to Gerard as they laid like that until they both fell asleep.

“Frank, it’s time to wake up, darling, you must have forgotten your alarm,” Linda said as she walked into her son’s room in the morning.  
“’Kay, ma,” Frank said with a still sleeping Gerard in his arms.  
His mother gave him a look but didn’t say anything as she walked out of his room, sometimes Frank thought he couldn’t ever have a better mother.  
Frank leaned over toward Gerard’s ear, “Morning, Gee,” he said huskily, his voice tired from sleep.  
Gerard blinked and gradually woke up more before realising their position and going red.  
“Morning,” Gerard all but squeaked.  
“C’mon, we’ve got to get ready for school,” Frank said and they both got up, slightly awkwardly.  
Just as they left Frank’s house, Frank asked the question that Gerard had been dreading.  
“So, do you mind me asking what the nightmare was about?”  
“Uh,” Gerard said shakily.  
“You don’t have to answer. It’s alright, I just want to know that you’re okay.”  
“It just happens sometimes. At one of my old schools, I used to get pushed around a lot, a few punches were thrown, but I never told anyone because I didn’t want to get beat up worse. One day my foster parent at the time found out and then went to the school. Some of the people involved got suspended for a couple days but when they were back it was worse than ever. One day, I had my music up really loud as I walked into school and tried to ignore all of them while I was walking to the art rooms, when I was almost there they dragged me outside. I won’t explain what happened next, but it was pretty bad. That was my last day at the school and I was hospitalised for a week afterward,” Gerard whispered the whole story and Frank was basically leaning in to hear every word.  
“Fuck,” Frank whispered back.  
“I get nightmares about it sometimes, that’s what happened last night.”  
“Gee, I’m so sorry,” Frank said and then he embraced the taller boy.  
Gerard stopped his walking to hug Frank back, they pulled apart but were still half wrapped around each other and they each stared into the other’s eyes.  
“What are you two love birds doing?” Ryan yelled from across the street.  
The two boys jumped; they didn’t realise how far they had walked already and at the corner waited most of their friend group.  
“Like you can talk, Ryro!” Frank yelled back as the two started walking toward the group again.  
“Why are you two coming from the same direction?” Bob asked in a mocking tone.  
“Gerard came over to help me with some homework last night.”  
“And then happened to stay over?”  
“Actually, yes,” Frank responded, everyone started to head towards the school, but half the group still remained of the mind that Frank and Gerard had something going on.  
Secretly both the boys hoped that the others were right, but only one would actually admit this to someone else.


	17. Let's get out of here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gee and Frankie skip classes and are cute and just, it was a fun chapter to write.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was short so, quick update for you guys! I was so frustrated that nothing had happened yet, even as the writer I was like; 'guys, c'mon, you should just get together already'. I'm so proud of this work, I've never kept anything going this long and I know I probably repeat all of this a lot but, you guys are awesome, seriously, without you this story would have ended about chapter 3 or something. I've also started a Jalex fic which I will be starting to post soon, it's quite a different basis than this but hopefully I can extend my writing topics and make something else that you guys can enjoy. Anyway, things are finally starting to move along! Hopefully there is enough fluff, and is written well, I don't really write a lot of stuff like this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.  
> xo J

Things were getting bad again at school, the popular people obviously couldn’t find anyone else to torment and so they were led back to Gerard.  
After some more unoriginal yells thrown and him and some people pushing him into the lockers a couple times he found refuge in the music suite.  
Once he was in there, he broke down. His heart felt like it was trying to go faster than the speed of light and he could feel his pulse all through his body. He started to feel faint and his vision blurred. His arm became numb and all he could do to not faint was sit down while he was hyperventilating. His vision narrowed until all he could see was the patch of carpet in front of him and everything sounded like it was under water. Even the yells of his name in his ear sounded distant and it took him a good ten second to actually turn his head around to see who was yelling at him and to try to tell them to stop it even though he couldn’t breathe let alone talk.  
The second that he saw Frank’s face he started panicking more, until he felt a hand on his and the worried look in the shorter’s eyes.  
After another minute, Gerard finally started to decipher what Frank was saying.  
“Come on, Gee, you’re safe. Don’t let those dickheads win, okay? Just listen to me, you’re an amazing person, once you get out of high school people will realise that. Just over one more year, that’s not too much okay? You’re gonna be okay. You’ve got me. You’ve got the guys. We won’t let anything happen to you okay,” Frank went on like that for another three minutes until Gerard was breathing normally.  
Frank wiped the tears off of Gerard’s cheeks.  
“Is it over?”  
“For now,” Gerard responded as he pulled Frank into a hug.  
‘C’mon, let’s get out of here.”  
Gerard looked at him quizzically.  
“Out of the school.”  
“What, skip classes?”  
“Yeah!” Frank said like it was the best idea in the world.  
Gerard also thought it was a great idea but decided to play the sane person for once; “We might get caught.”  
“We’ll just tell them the truth then. It was my idea, I didn’t want you to have to put up with those dicks for the rest of the day.”  
“Okay.”  
Frank’s face lit up and they picked up their bags and walked out of the school like they were meant to and nobody questioned them, mostly because nobody saw them because they sneaked around the back, but it was still a good feeling.

“What do you want?” Frank asked Gerard as they neared the counter of Starbucks.  
“Something strong.”  
“Okay, I’ll order, you go get us a seat.”  
Gerard went and sat down in a secluded corner of the chain store, hoping to hell that Frank would get him something good, he was fussy about his coffee.  
“One extra strong coffee,” Frank said as he put the drink down on the table.  
“Thank you.”  
“Not a problem.”  
“And thank you for everything else,” Gerard mumbled into his drink.  
“That’s not a problem either,” Frank said but he thought that Gerard didn’t look convinced so he laid his hand on the other boy’s and said, “Gee, truly, I would do anything for you, helping you through a panic attack is the least I could do.”  
Gerard looked up at him with wide eyes, he started to lean across the table and Frank was just about to start closing the gap before a yell stopped them in their tracks.  
“Go to hell, you faggots!”  
“Fucking hell,” Frank whispered as his eyes closed and his hands balled up into fists.  
Gerard was the one to calm Frank down this time, he uncurled the fist that Frank had made and held his hand before getting up and guiding Frank out of the store with a; "let's get out of here."  
It wasn’t till they had walked two blocks to the nearest park that they realised that they had held hands the whole walk, both of them were putting off the moment when they would have to let go.  
To both of their surprise though, it didn’t get awkward, they sat down on swings next to each other and sipped their drinks.  
“Can we just drop out of school and work and do this every day?” Gerard asked to no one in particular.  
“I wish. Can’t this last forever and then we just don’t have to every do anything else?” Frank responded.  
“I wish.”  
Eventually they headed over to the bin and then sat down on one of the park tables, not on the seats, they were actually sitting on top of the table.  
“Frankie.”  
“Gee.”  
“I don’t know how much I can deal with this time. It already feels like too much.”  
“This time’s different.”  
“How?” Gerard lifted his eyes from Frank’s hands to his face, a hopeful look in his eyes.  
“This time you’ve got me,” Frank said, then he started leaning towards Gerard.  
Gerard’s breath hitched and he thought he was prepared for this, but nothing could prepare him for this. He was about to kiss Frank Iero. It took him a moment to process that before he was closing the gap like Frank tried to last time.  
It felt like years as the anticipation built.  
And then, he was kissing Frank.  
He couldn’t breathe.  
It was sweet and it was quick.  
It was the best thing that had ever happened to him.  
Frank was equally amazed.  
“That was the first time I’ve ever kissed another guy.”   
“I figured,” Gerard said before leaning in again and capturing Frank’s mouth before he could say anything else.  
Frank moaned slightly into Gerard’s mouth as he pulled the taller boy closer to him.  
When they pulled apart for air again, Gerard was slightly hunched over Frank and cradling his face, while Frank had his arms around Gerard’s waist.  
“Wow,” was all that Frank said as they caught their breath.  
Gerard sat back down properly on the table but still sat closer to Frank then before.  
Frank started to blush once everything finally hit him.  
“Gee?”  
Gerard hummed as he looked up, his face was blank, he thought he knew what was coming next; ‘this was a mistake, I’m sorry, I can’t do this again’.  
“Do you want to go on a date with me?”  
Gerard gasped at this and then launched himself at Frank with his arms wide open and they were close to toppling to the ground.  
“Should I take that as a yes then?”  
“You should take that as a fucking hell yes, Frankie,” Gerard said before kissing Frank on the cheek and smiling at him.  
Gerard’s day went from one of the worst to one of the best in the course of the afternoon.


	18. I don't know what to name this chapter so just, 'aww, finally'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just fluff really. I'm in a fluffy mood. They're getting ready for their first date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys.  
> So I started that other band fic - which is Jalex - and I put up a little taster, so please read it and tell me what you think :)  
> At the moment I'm writing so much fluff and I think that's a good thing, but I think this fic is going to take a turn soon.  
> Comments help a lot :) I like to know that I'm keeping on track

“Okay, so I was thinking, hanging out then out for dinner and then whatever. I don’t like organising things I just like to see what happens,” Frank said as they walked towards his house.  
“What, you wanted to go on the date tonight?”  
“Yeah, why not?”  
“Because, I smell like school and look like death, that’s why not,” Gerard stated with a hand on his hip.  
“Tone down the sass, Gee,” Frank laughed, “You look more than fine, but if you want to go home before we head out, we can?”  
“That would be appreciated.”  
“Okay, let’s drop in at mine since we’re about a street away and then head over to yours.”

“Hi, Frank,” Linda said as Frank walked through the door.  
“Hi, ma. Gee’s here as well.”  
“Long time no see, Gerard,” Linda stated with a sweet laugh but Gerard still blushed.  
“Ma, I was wondering whether I could have another five dollars?”  
“Why’s this?” Linda said while already getting her purse out and handing him a ten dollar note, her son barely ever asked for money so she knew it was important to him when he did and that he didn’t have enough time to get the money through his job. Frank always paid her back in the end anyway.  
“Thanks… Um, I’m taking Gerard out on a date this afternoon,” Frank stated, both the boys looked down and waited nervously for what she would say.  
“That’s nice, but Frank, you never told me you were gay?”  
“Oh,” Frank said, finally realising that he had just come out to his mother, “I wasn’t really admitting it to myself until today.”  
“Okay, Frank, just be careful, you know this town as well as I do.”  
“Yes, ma.”  
“Now, you two have a wonderful time, if it gets too late, Gerard, you can just stay here again if you would like. But I am here all night, so no funny business,” Linda said with a stern face but a twinkle in her eyes.  
“Yes, ma,” Frank then scurried up to his room to change and get out some more of his own money.  
Gerard and Linda were left alone with Gerard shuffling around awkwardly.  
Linda offered him a cookie and then started to talk, which was what Gerard had feared would happen, Linda was nice but it was still awkward having conversations with your date’s mother.  
“You are a very nice boy, Gerard. I just don’t want you two to get hurt out there, people aren’t very accepting here.”  
“I know that, ma’am. I don’t want Frank to get hurt either.”  
“That’s good to hear, but remember to think about the consequences for yourself as well. You both sound like you would always put the other’s well-being in front of your own and I’m not sure if that will… Oh, don’t worry about what I say, I’m just a worrying mother. I hope you two have a nice time tonight,” Linda smiled before heading to her own bedroom.  
“Thanks,” Gerard whispered as she closed the door, every second he was becoming more anxious, he couldn’t let Frank get hurt, no one could know that they might be together, not even their group, someone might let it slip. He couldn’t live with himself if he knew that what happens to him will happen to Frank.  
“C’mon, Gee, let’s head to your house,” Frank said lightly after bounding down the corridor.  
Frank grabbed Gerard’s hand and then they left the house, five minutes into their walk when they were halfway to Gerard’s house, Gerard realised that he had left his bag at Frank’s house.  
“Don’t worry about it, mum said you could stay over tonight, so why don’t you?” Frank said looking hopeful.  
Gerard seemed a bit hesitant.  
“Gee, don’t worry, okay. It’s you and me, if you worry about hanging out with me I will start becoming concerned that this isn’t such a great idea.”  
“No!” Gerard said a little too loudly, “This is a great idea, trust me, I just, I don’t know. Aren’t I allowed to be nervous on our first date when you invite me to sleep over at your house afterwards?”  
“Oh, I didn’t look at it from that angle, fair enough then. But I’m newer at this than you are so shouldn’t I be more scared than you? I mean I only found out that I was gay today.”  
“No, today you only admitted to yourself and me that you are gay. I’m sure you were gay before now, it doesn’t really just happen.”  
“I don’t know, if any guy becomes best friends with you I’m sure it can just happen.”  
Gerard blushed and poked his tongue out to Frank at this, Frank just smiled and winked back.

“Gerard, why were you not at school the rest of the day? I got a call from the school counselor, which doesn’t usually happen but because you are a new student they want to make sure you’re doing okay,” Anne said with a concerned and slightly angry voice.  
“People were shoving me in the hallways and yelling at me, I had a panic attack, Frank calmed me down and then we hung out for the rest of the day.”  
“Are you alright?” Scott asked.  
“Yeah, I just had to get out of there for the afternoon. Please don’t tell the counselor, then I would have to talk to people and the dickheads yelling at me will get angrier.”  
“Okay, Gerard, but we are going to talk about this later. Thank you for helping Gerard, Frank.”  
“No problem, ma’am.”  
“None of that ‘ma’am’ stuff, call me Anne.”  
“Okay, Anne,” Frank smiled.  
“Um, so I’ve really just come home to ask if I can go out on a date with Frank tonight, Frankie’s mum said I could stay over at their place again tonight since it would be easier than coming back here after and we could probably fit in some homework and tomorrow is the weekend,” Gerard said in a rush.  
“Of course you can go out Gerard, and yes you can stay over at Frank’s,” Anne said and with that Gerard said thank you and then rushed to his room. He picked up a bag and some clothes and sleep wear that didn’t smell much, he also chucked in a few pencils and a sketch book for good measure. He then grabbed his best black jeans, button down shirt and Misfits top and headed for the bathroom to get changed and redo his eyeliner and stylishly ruffle his red hair which had started to sprout some regrowth.  
Once Gerard deemed himself ready he walked back out to where Frank seemed to be having a good conversation with Anne about his mother’s nursing job.  
“Ready?” Frank asked as he admired Gerard in all his perfection.  
“Ready,” Gerard nodded.  
They said goodbye to Anne and Scott and then headed out the door.  
“Wow. You look, just, wow.”  
Gerard blushed at this and looked anywhere but at Frank.  
“Really, Gerard, you normally look like some sort of punk god, but right now? Right now, I couldn’t care less if the Sex Pistols were standing right behind me, I wouldn’t take my eyes off you for a second,” Frank put his hand on Gerard’s cheek to make the taller look at him.  
Frank stood on the tops of his feet so that he could reach up to brush his lips over Gerard’s.  
“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes,” Frank whispered into Gerard’s ear before dropping back down to his normal height and taking Gerard’s hand.  
“Since, my place is on the way to where I want to take you do you want to drop your bag off?”  
“Yes, please,” Gerard said in a choked whisper.


	19. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Such fluff, I just can't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that I haven't updated for ages!! I've been so busy with just everything, I'm going on holidays tomorrow and am not sure whether I will be able to get on the internet, then I am at my dad's till Christmas Eve where I won't be able to post so it could be 2ish weeks before I update again! D: I hope you enjoy the fluff; it's not going to last forever. Please comment if you feel so inclined and check out my new Jalex fic if you want something a little different from this :)

When they went into Frank’s house Gerard picked up an extra hoodie for Frank and passed it to him even though it wasn’t meant to get too cold.  
“Thanks,” Frank smiled up at him and this time Gerard was the one who couldn’t look away, the way Frank’s whole face lit up and his eyes crinkled when he smiled just made Gerard feel liked he would do anything to see that smile every day.  
“You ready to go?”  
“Not yet,” Gerard breathed out as he realise that, yes, he could go right over there and kiss Frank if he wanted to. So that’s just what he did.  
While Frank wasn’t totally opposed to the idea of a make out session before they left to go to dinner he also didn’t want his mum to walk in and see what they were up to. So after a minute he grudgingly pulled away, grabbing onto Gerard’s hand and basically pulling him out of the house, where he gave into his hormones and kissed Gerard again, briefly before they started to walk towards the main part of town.  
They eventually found a restaurant that have reasonable prices for teenagers and decided on their meals.  
During the evening, Frank found out that Gerard flirted, a lot, even though he didn’t need to and jokingly teased Frank sometimes, which had Frank itching to touch this amazing guy in front of him.  
They learned more about each other, Gerard learnt about how Frank’s father had left them, how he had become friends with everyone, how he had got his job. Frank didn’t learn as much as he would have liked from Gerard, but he didn’t push when Gerard seemed to get uncomfortable or change the subject. Frank did learn about Gerard’s grandmother, Mikey and what his parents were like from what he remembered and Gerard also talked about some of the foster homes that he had been in.  
Once they had finished their meals, with Frank refusing to let Gerard pay because he had asked Gerard out, they decided that a walk in the park was a good idea and Frank grudgingly let Gerard buy them both ice-creams before they headed back to Frank’s house.  
“How was your date, boys?” Linda asked as the two stepped into the house.  
“Amazing,” Frank responded while they looked to each other in awe.  
“I’ve set up the camp bed in your room, Frank. I might be up for a while, I have some work to do so if you want to watch movies you can use your laptop. You boys better not do anything I wouldn’t do.”  
Frank and Gerard blushed at the last sentence.  
“Thanks, ma, goodnight,” Frank said as he kissed his mum’s cheek.  
“Thanks, Ms Iero.”  
“Gerard, please call me Linda, you’ve already stayed here before and have gone on a date with my son.”  
“Thanks, Linda,” Gerard said before he followed Frank to his room.  
“Gerard, can you stop being perfect, it hurts.”  
“I’ll try but I think your perfectness rubs off on me too much.”  
“Geez, we’re fucking cheesy.”  
“We so fucking are,” Gerard agreed as they sat down on Frank’s bed and he got his laptop out.  
They put on whatever horror movie Frank picked out from a pile and sat back on the bed, leaning against each other.  
“Frankie?” Gerard half-whispered.  
“Yeah, Gee?”  
“Are we boyfriends?”  
“Yeah, I would like that.”  
“I’d like that too, but we can’t tell anyone.”  
“We can tell the guys, they won’t tell anyone else.”  
“But someone might overhear them talking about it. I can’t let that happen to you, Frank.”  
“If you can get through it I can get through it.”  
“No, I don’t want you to have to go through it if you don’t have to!”  
“Okay, for now we won’t tell anyone?”  
“I need to tell Mikey though.”  
“If you’re telling Mikey, I’m telling Ray, he is like a brother to me.”  
“…Okay, deal.”  
“Do I get a kiss to seal the deal?” Frank asked, turning slightly more towards Gerard.  
Gerard rolled his eyes but leaned in.  
After a minute or two Gerard pulled away for a breath.  
“I feel like I’m in a lame romance novel!”  
“Under the circumstances I’m gonna take that as a good thing,” Frank winked, “do you want a drink?”  
“Yeah, water?”  
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Frank said and then left the room.  
Gerard took out his sketch book, he hadn’t drawn much lately and he thought that Frank wouldn’t mind if he drew something now.  
He flicked open to the tattoo design that he had been working on, he hated needles himself but he thought it would be amazing if someone ever got his art inked onto their skin, he loved looking at the few that Frank had and couldn’t wait to see the other ideas that he had come to life on his skin.  
The piece he was working on was a heart with a dagger in it, it was different from some of his other work.  
Frank walked back in with two glasses of water and peered over Gerard’s shoulder.  
“Woah.”  
“You like it?” Gerard asked in a small voice.  
“I love it, more than life itself.”  
Gerard flushed red at the complement, not used to being so open with his artwork.   
“Why don’t you sell any art?”  
“Who would want to buy my art? And, besides, where can you sell art?”  
“I would want to buy all your art if I could.”  
“I could just draw for you for free,” Gerard stated, laughing off yet another complement.  
Frank’s face took on a scheming look.  
“What?” Gerard asked sceptically.  
“Jack’s store!”  
“What about it?”  
“Sometimes you’re so thick! You could sell your art there! There are a lot of people there that would love your art! I’ll ask Jack about it tomorrow.”  
“Oh.”  
“Is something wrong?”  
“I just, don’t know whether I’m okay with letting other people see my art, only you and Mikey have. I don’t know whether I could cope with that.”  
“That’s okay, we don’t have to, it was just an idea,” Frank said, still smiling up at Gerard.  
Tears welled up in the corner of Gerard’s eyes and he couldn’t stop them.  
“Gee? What’s wrong, what did I say? I’m sorry, oh god.”  
“No, no, it’s good, you just, I don’t know, you’re so…accepting? Anyone else would have like pushed or something, but no, you’re all like; ‘okay, you don’t have to do something you’re not comfortable with’. Just, thank you,” Gerard mumbled without looking Frank in the eye.  
Gerard felt arms around his shoulder and looked up before hugging back.  
The two fell asleep soon after in their respective beds so that when Linda would come to wake them up in the morning she wouldn’t find them in the same bed again, it was no problems last time, but now they had gone on a date and Frank still wanted Gerard to be able to come over whenever he wanted so it was safer to sleep apart for the night.


	20. Umm... morning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff and Frank is just Frank?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a fluffy chapter before I get back into the story line because I haven't been in the right place to write what I know is going to happen. It will be coming soon anyway, enjoy...stuff. This is as in-depth as I am willing to write into this side of things. Feedback is good, I like to know what you guys think, it helps me with motivation for writing. I've been going back and noticing a lot of mistakes so I'm going to start cleaning them up but I think I need a beta so if anyone is willing to do that please put your hand up and tell me. Thank you so much for reading guys, you are all lovely and perfect. Stay beautiful, keep it ugly.  
> xo J

“Boys, sorry to wake you up early but I’m just telling you that I’m leaving now and I will call you on my break to make sure that the both of you get up at a reasonable time,” Linda said with her head poked through the door after establishing that the two were presentable.  
Frank and Gerard both groaned in response, still too asleep to answer properly.  
“I’ll take that as a ‘okay, mum, see you later, love you’. Goodbye, boys,” Linda said as she closed the door and left for her shift at the hospital.  
A few minutes later it finally sunk in that his mum had left for work and he half sat up and tugged on Gerard’s arm.  
“What? I haven’t even had a coffee yet and it’s too early,” was Gerard’s answer as he turned away from Frank.  
“C’mon Gee, my mum left, cuddle with me.”  
Gerard sat bolt upright, finally realising where he was.  
“You’re such a five year old.”  
“I may be as tall as one and as adorable but I want you in my bed and I hope that doesn’t mean you’re a paedophile.”  
“You are definitely not a five year old,” Gerard said as he moved to lay down next to Frank.  
They faced each other whilst they each ignored the other’s morning breath.  
Frank leaned into kiss Gerard, cupping his face and pulling him closer.  
“As much as a make-out session is great, I am really fucking tired.”  
“Same here,” Frank said, slightly sadly as they both got more comfortable in each other’s arms and ten minutes later they had both drifted off to sleep.

Gerard was, surprisingly, the first to wake up. Frank’s arms and legs were wrapped around him, seriously, that guy was an octopus. Gerard shifted slightly so that he could get some feeling back into his dead hand and that slight movement alerted him to Frank’s… problem.  
Gerard averted his eyes from Frank and breathed deeply, he was scared, he didn’t know what to do.  
Despite his determination to NOT think about what was going on in Frank’s pants, he couldn’t stop himself. Just as he had decided to get up and out of the situation, Frank’s breath hitched. Gerard looked over at him, thinking that he might have woken up, but he was still asleep.  
Frank moved in his sleep, pulling Gerard closer and letting out a puff of breath that Gerard could hear a slight moan behind.  
Gerard couldn’t look away from Frank’s face, his mouth was opened slightly and his face showed an absolute peacefulness which Gerard wished he could see on his face while he was awake.  
“Gerard,” Frank breathed out but still his face was clear and his eyes stayed closed.  
“Oh, fuck,” Gerard whispered as a realisation hit him, Frank was dreaming about him and coupled with the impressive bulge pressed against Gerard’s leg at the moment, he could guess what Frank was dreaming about.  
After the initial proud moment that the thought of him in Frank’s dream did this to Frank, he started to think of ways out of this situation, he could barely deal with an awake Frank, how could he deal with an asleep horny Frank?  
His best bet was to just dislodge Frank from him somehow so that he wouldn’t wake up and make all of this very awkward for both of them, but at that moment Frank’s hips decided to move, the motion making him rub against Gerard’s leg.  
Frank let out a quiet moan this time and Gerard would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t completely turned on at that moment and he silently cursed his hormones as a tent started to rise in his pyjama pants as well.  
Maybe he should roll over and pretend to be asleep whilst ‘accidently’ waking Frank up?  
Frank started rutting, actually rutting up against Gerard and Gerard started to totally freak out and decided to just roll over.  
Frank let out a groan before Gerard heard the sheets rustle and felt Frank sit up.  
“Shit,” he heard Frank whisper.  
Gerard didn’t know what made him do it, but he turned back over innocently and asked, “What’s up?” with a quirk of his eyebrow.  
“Uh, nothing, just, nope, I’m good. Morning, Gee,” Frank spluttered, turning red.  
“Morning, Frankie,” Gerard said, looking up through his lashes.  
“Uh, god!” Frank collapsed back down on the bed.  
“What’s wrong, Frankie?” Gerard asked looking down on the younger boy.  
“Morning wood,” Frank said closing his eyes as he turned even redder.  
“I realised.”  
“What?”  
“You kind of said and did stuff in your sleep.”  
“God, no! Like what?” Frank asked, concerned that he had completely embarrassed himself and that Gerard would want to leave straight away.  
“Well, you moaned a couple times and then you started basically rutting up against me and you said my name.”  
Frank’s hand flew up to his face, he couldn’t even believe how embarrassed he was.  
Gerard pulled a hand from Frank’s face and said, “You have a really sexy expression when you’re turned on.”  
Frank made an unimpressed face at that and then started apologising to Gerard, a lot.  
“Frank, it’s alright, you are not the only teenage guy in this relationship, remember, I have done the exact same thing in my sleep before,” Gerard winked.  
“Now you probably think I’m some horny ass weirdo bastard.”  
“I think you’re Frank, a horny Frank, no doubt about that, but still Frank and Frank is the one who asked me out yesterday, took me on an amazing date and then invited me into his bed for cuddles this morning. Frank is cute and horny,” Gerard said as he leant down to kiss Frank, not knowing where all of this was coming from, five minutes ago he was trying to think of ways to make sure that Frank didn’t know that he knew what had happened.  
Frank all but moaned again in his turned on state and turned his head away from Gerard in yet more embarrassment.  
“And guess what?”  
“What?” Frank asked reluctantly.  
“I love that, I love that Frank is a cute horny bastard.”  
“I would love it more if I got a make out session before breakfast,” Frank stated, some of his embarrassment leaving his face.  
With that, Gerard leaned down and the two didn’t leave the bed for another ten minutes when Gerard didn’t want to go any further and Frank was okay with that.


End file.
